Bob Katter

Robert Bellarmine Carl Katter (born 22 May 1945) is an Australian politician who has served as the member of parliament (MP) for the Queensland division of Kennedy since 1993 and father of the House since 2022. He was previously active in Queensland state politics from 1974 to 1992, holding various ministerial positions in the Bjelke-Petersen, Ahern, and Cooper governments.

Katter was born in Cloncurry, Queensland. His father, Bob Katter Sr., was also a politician. Katter was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly at the 1974 election for the electorate of Flinders. He was appointed to cabinet in 1983 under Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and served a government minister until the National Party's defeat at the 1989 election.

Katter left state politics in 1992, and the following year was elected to federal parliament, sitting for the division of Kennedy, his father's former seat. He resigned from the National Party in the lead-up to the 2001 federal election, and has since been re-elected several times as an independent and as a member of Katter's Australian Party. His son, Robbie Katter, is a state MP in Queensland, the third generation of the Katter family to become a member of parliament.