17c起草社区

Queensland MP Bob Katter has defended former rugby player Israel Folau and compared him to George Pell, after Folau said the that has left six dead was God鈥檚 punishment for same-sex marriage and abortion.

In a bizarre Facebook , Katter said Folau was 鈥渋nspirational,鈥� called the backlash against him a 鈥渨itch hunt鈥� and seemed to suggest both Folau and convicted child abuser George Pell are the victims of religious persecution.

鈥淚 may disagree with Folau on some elements of theology and fundamentalism, but the intense persecution that he has been suffering to me is just continuation of the religious persecution that is taking place against Christianity almost everywhere in Australia,鈥� Katter wrote.

鈥淔rom where I sit, I鈥檝e always voted for freedom in a society that is overly restrictive and there is no doubt that religious freedom is under attack here. And whether you agree with his comment or you don鈥檛, rest assured they will come after you.

鈥淭hey managed to take out Pell and Hollingsworth, and now they are going after the most prominent spokesperson for the Evangelic [sic] church 鈥� Someone that puts moral convictions over his personal income, I find inspirational whether I agree with what he is saying or whether I don鈥檛.鈥澛�

Katter is no stranger to making controversial statements. In 2017, his response to a question about marriage equality which abruptly segued into a rant about crocodile attacks in northern Queensland went viral.聽

In a rambling speech on the eve of the legalisation of same-sex marriage, he said human beings are 鈥済enetically programmed鈥� to be heterosexual, claimed the gay community is responsible for children being 鈥渋njected with AIDS鈥� and seemed to suggest gay people are more likely to become serial killers.

In 1989, he declared he 鈥渨ould walk to Bourke backwards if the poof population of north Queensland is any more than 0.001 per cent鈥�. And in 1996, he opposed decriminalising homosexuality in Tasmania, warning against 鈥渃lothing in legitimacy, acceptability and respectability behaviour on which, throughout most of history, almost every country in the world has had laws which have put some sort of sanction鈥�.

Earlier this year, he also said being gay has become a 鈥渇ashion statement鈥� and claimed he had 鈥渘ever seen or heard of a homosexual person鈥� until he was 50.