Katter has the crowd buzzing
THE man in the hat, The Australian Party's Bob Katter, revved up a Goonyella Riverside union picket line at Moranbah on Friday.
Goonyella Riverside Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union lodge secretary Simon West said a buzz went through the crowd as word of Mr Katter's visit spread.
And he didn't let anyone down, speaking with great passion and enthusiasm about the history of mining and trade unions and their importance today.
Mr Katter said he knew when to pick a fight - that time was now, and it took a lot of courage to do what the union members were doing.
He made special mention of the need for safety conditions and how dangerous underground and open-cut mining could be.
"If you don't take a stand now, I promise you, you will be working for nothing in this country," he said.
Mr Katter spoke of the need for a "continuity of know-how", something he said you could not get with an inexperienced FIFO workforce. "Let there be no doubt we are under attack," he said.
Mr Katter said Queensland Premier Campbell Newman had promised to fly in workers from overseas.
He said this sort of leadership would end in a master-servant relationship.
"And what does Queensland get out of this?" he asked. "A big hole in the ground? The rough end of the pineapple," he said, in reference to the many BMA EA 2012 Pineapple shirts worn by people in the picket line. Mr Katter said he realised that "we were all in for a fight" and he and Member for Dalrymple Shane Knuth and his party were going to cop flak and criticism for it.
He also spoke about past conflict between farmers and workers and that now farmers were after the same things as workers, the right to collectively bargain. He said that the CFMEU needed to lead the fight for all unions in Australia.
