Bob Katter answers Cairns band's crocodile ballad with lyrical threat

Bob Katter says he loves crocodiles. In fact, he ate one at the pub the other night.But when a Far North band wrote a new song about him from the croc's point of view, the veteran MP fired back with a lyrical threat.Now a conservationist is urging Mr Katter to heed the song's message and abandon calls for a crocodile cull. Bob Katter has been Australian politics' most outspoken campaigner for a crocodile cull in Queensland. (ABC News: Owain Stia James)Croc and rollCairns musical outfit The Cherabins released their song Katter this week.In it, a saltwater croc pleads for peace and suggests the member for Kennedy "move to Parramatta, where I won't eat you".Band member Jonah Lafferty said the tongue-in-cheek lyrics came from a place of honest care for native species."We are concerned that Bob seems to detest the crocodiles up here," Lafferty said."It's difficult to have this debate properly unless you can hear from both sides … so we thought we just had to pen the crocodile's perspective."Then Cherabins members Toby, Ryan and Jonah go on a canoe mission to catch the freshwater crayfish that inspired their band name. (Supplied: The Cherabins)Mr Katter, 81, said plenty of "very unflattering" songs had been written about him over the years, but called this one "bloody terrific" and "real catchy".He rejected any suggestion he hated crocs."No, I love them," he said."I ate one the other night at the Tolga pub. It was pretty good."Bob Katter poses with a dead crocodile and a hunting knife during his younger days. (Twitter: @RealBobKatter)Where the cull debate standsMr Katter has been an outspoken advocate for crocodile population control for about 20 years.The Queensland branch of Katter's Australian Party (KAP) has introduced five bills in state parliament since 2017, calling for legalised culls, egg harvesting or hunting safaris.None has passed into law.The Crisafulli government last year handed down Queensland's first major crocodile management reform in almost a decade, with increased patrols and expanded removal zones.It still falls well short of the KAP's demands.Cherabin members Max Brownlow and Jonah Lafferty hear Bob Katter's response to their song for the first time, during an interview with ABC Radio's regional Queensland Drive show. (Supplied: The Cherabins)Lafferty acknowledged the issue was a heated one in the north."It is difficult when you want to go down to the beach and have a swim and you've got to watch out for crocs," he said."But at the end of the day, we're a band who write songs all about the wildlife of Far North Queensland, and so personally, we do take the side of the crocodile."Katter's Australian Party has introduced five unsuccessful bills to Queensland Parliament calling for a crocodile cull since 2017. (Supplied: Cameron Baker)'Let a thousand blossoms bloom'The song closes with an impression of Mr Katter's famous "let a thousand blossoms bloom" remarks he made during the 2017 same-sex marriage postal survey, in which he claimed that "every three months, a person is torn to pieces by a crocodile in North Queensland".At the time, RMIT ABC Fact Check found there had been an average of one fatal attack every 20 months in Queensland.The state has recorded five fatal crocodile attacks and 13 non-fatal attacks since 2017.The most recent death was in January 2025, when a 60-year-old man was killed while fishing in Watson River near Aurukun on Cape York.Bob Katter has penned a lyrical response to The Cherabins's new song. (Australian Story: Marc Smith)Explaining the now infamous quote, Mr Katter said he had been intent on talking about crocodiles, but interviewers continually raised "this other business"."But the 'thousand blossoms bloom' caught the airwaves," he said.The Cherabins band members Jonah Lafferty, Toby Porter, Max Brownlow and Ryan Todorovic take to the stage. (Supplied: The Cherabins)What the conservationists sayWildlife advocate Amanda French from CROC QLD urged Mr Katter to consider the song's message."The Crocodile Control and Conservation Bill that was tabled for the fifth time was thrown out [of Queensland Parliament] again last year," she said."We need to focus on changing people's behaviour in croc country, not eradicating crocodiles. "And we need to listen to the science, which is essentially that culling is ineffective."Jonah Lafferty, Max Brownlow, Toby Porter and Ryan Todorovic make up Cairns band The Cherabins. (Supplied: The Cherabins)Mr Katter showed no indication he would change his tune.In fact, he penned his own response to the track."You've got the jaws / You've got the claws / But I've got the .44s."