‘Act of respect’: Rare honour for Katter

Maverick MP Bob Katter will be given the rare honour of having a portrait commissioned in his honour, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese describing the father of the house as an “institution in his own right”.

Unabashedly eccentric, Mr Katter is the longest serving MP in the federal parliament, clocking up more than 50 years spent as a politician since he entered the Queensland state parliament in 1974.

‘Act of respect’: Rare honour for Katter

Parliament House’s oldest and least-known committee, the Historic Memorials Committee, met for the first time since 1973 on Tuesday afternoon, bringing together Mr Albanese, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Speaker Milton Dick, Senate President Sue Lines, Vice-President of the Executive Council Kate Gallagher and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Simon Birmingham.

Mr Dick set the project in motion on May 28 when he wrote to Mr Albanese, requesting approval to commission a portrait of the outspoken MP.

Mr Katter’s portrait will sit alongside more than 260 artworks featuring significant events, commemorations and portraits of monarchs, and prime ministers, as part of the Historical Memorials Collection.

These include a 2019 painting of Labor MP Linda Burney by Sydney artist Jude Rae and a portrait of Nova Peris by Indigenous artist Jandamarra Cadd.

Ms Burney was the first female Indigenous MP elected to the House of Representatives, while gold medal Olympian Ms Peris was the first female Indigenous parliamentarian, serving as a Northern Territory senator between 2013 to 2016.

Mr Albanese paid tribute to Mr Katter’s dedication to politics. He said the commissioning of the portrait was “above all, an act of respect”.

“So much has changed over the decades in this parliament – one of the rare constants has been Bob Katter’s presence,” he said.

“In this great democratic institution, Bob is an institution in his own right.

“It’s hard to imagine this place without him and commissioning his portrait is a way to ensure he will always be a visible and colourful part of Australia’s parliament.”

Mr Katter has held the expansive far north Queensland federal seat of Kennedy since 1993, winning an impressive winning 11 consecutive elections in that time.