An Australian MP has linked the country’s vote on same-sex marriage to crocodile attacks in North Queensland in a transition so unlikely it has to be seen to be believed.
Bob Katter made the remarks on Wednesday after the results of a national survey showed Australians backed the law-change, but the absurdity of his performance for the press didn’t fully resonate until Sunday when it was singled out on the ABC’s Insider programme.
Katter, who is no stranger to controversy, began by seemingly softening his stance on the issue, speaking in short breathless bursts, with a jolly expression.
“I mean, you know, people are entitled to their sexual proclivities, you know, I mean,” he announced, while raising his hands above his head in mock alarm, before continuing: “Let there be a thousand blossoms bloom. As far as I’m concerned, you know...”
Katter then changed gears with his face raging into a storm of contempt...
As he prepared to add a crocodile curve-ball to the equation:
“But I aint spending any time on it, because in the meantime every three months a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in North Queensland.””
Video of his remarks have since gone viral, with one commentator saying she “laughed so loud” she “woke up the dog”.
Others tried to unpick the link between same-sex marriage and crocodile attacks, opining that there must be more to Katter’s story.
A Donald Trump comparison was made and an equally confusing phrase was rolled out: “What the didgeridoo did he just say?”.
A didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians.
Crocodile’s have long been a thorn in Katter’s side and he’s campaigned for the reptile to be culled in northern Queensland where they’ve killed 11 people since 1985, according to government authorities.
The independent MP is no stranger to making bizarre comments and justifications. In August he made a claim so preposterous it could have come from an Austin Powers script. He accused homosexuals of stealing the word “gay”, which he happened to be, very fond of.
He told Sky News at the time, gay, was “the most beautiful word in the English language”.
In explaining his position, Katter quoted part of Alexander Pope’s 18th Century poem The Rape of the Lock - “Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay” - and said he now felt a “beautiful image” had been “taken”.
The previous year Katter rattled his political rivals with a video depicting him killing them.
Katter’s Kennedy electorate was one of 17 that voted against legalising same sex marriage.
Australia’s other 133 electorates backed it, giving the Yes campaign a nationwide majority of 61.6%.