Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have very great respect for my colleague on the crossbenches. I've always had very great respect for him. He is one of the few people in this place who always act out of conscience and what they believe is the right thing to do. But there is another issue here. In my book, I quoted one of the best books on the typical Australian. It describes the typical Australian as a person who sticks by his mates, even if his mates are doing the wrong thing. You don't rat on your mates. Well, I think this bloke has ratted on his mates, so I've got no sympathy for him. Should he have a criminal conviction against him, I would agree with the honourable member, my colleague, that there shouldn't be legal punishment. He shouldn't be convicted, but I most certainly do not approve of his conduct.

Chris Masters has written a book big-noting himself once again. He wrote a book called The Moonlight State, which led to the destruction of the Queensland government and the jailing of four ministers. Every person in this House should listen to what I'm saying here. The leading case was that of Brian Austin. What he had done was drive his government car up to see his children at the weekend at a boarding school outside of Brisbane. For that, he spent two years in jail, like a criminal. So thank you, Chris Masters. You did a wonderful job! There was not one single conviction for government corruption—not one. It was just this petty rubbish—using your motor car to drive up to see your kids. That was the leading case. That was the case that the other four cases followed. So, Chris Masters, what you did was put a person in jail for using his car to go up and visit his kids on the weekend. Every government car in Australia will be used for private purposes today. He completely subverted and corrupted the process of government in Queensland and damaged it to a point where it is still damaged today. And now he's out there spitting upon our Australian soldiers who are risking their lives. They don't know whether the cause is right or wrong in Vietnam or Indonesia. You just join up. I just joined up. I didn't know all the rights and wrongs of it. Your government is going to war, so you just join up. That's what you do as an Australian.

Masters has spat upon those people. He is the person who's written a book that backs up the convictions of this gentleman we're talking about today. I do not wish to see this gentleman put in jail or punished in any way, and I most certainly do not want to see the parliament of Australia approving the conduct of someone who has ratted on his mates—the most un-Australian of characterisations.

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