Bob Katter says he's sorry Muslims in his Queensland electorate feel betrayed by his support for a ban on Muslim immigration amid calls for Labor to stop helping him with preferences.
Cane farmer Abdul Ghani Mohammed said he'll have a go at Mr Katter, who he considered a friend, for praising Katter's Australian Party Senator Fraser Anning's controversial maiden speech calling for the ban.
Mr Mohammed said he wants to know who the real Bob Katter is after the party leader recently helped the Muslim community argue for a visa extension for a Cairns Imam.
"How can he say what he said? I'd like to talk to Bob about that. See what he's got to say. Ask him - is that the real Bob or not, or is he just saying it because this bloke is new in his party and he's got to stand up for him," he told the ABC.
Mr Katter said he's sorry some voters feel hurt by his stance on Muslim immigration, but also said, "We've got to protect ourselves".
"Surely someone should be talking about our immigration policy that is bankrupting us and drowning our values," he told the ABC.
Benjamin Murat is another farmer in Mr Katter's electorate and is also the Imam of a mosque at Mareeba, west of Cairns. He's shocked by Mr Katter's views given the support he's shown the Muslim community in the past.
"I just don't understand what's happened for this to all have changed," he told the ABC.
Liberal National MP Warren Entsch, whose electorate neighbours Mr Katter's, says the Labor party should stop helping him with its preferences.
"Quite frankly, I think he's almost certifiable," Mr Entsch has told Fairfax Media.
"He only stays in the parliament because of support of the Labor Party. We should all be putting them (KAP) last."
Labor's chief tactician Tony Burke has already said the party would reconsider giving its preferences to Mr Katter.
"We've always put One Nation last ... because of the racist element of that party," Mr Burke said.
"All the reasons that lead us to put One Nation last need to be applied to any party playing the same racist, divisive games ... I think it's pretty clear where we're headed."
Australian Associated Press
