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Controversial Aussie MP faces calls to quit after publishing "abhorrent" campaign ad

Xinhua, June 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

A controversial Australian MP is facing calls to quit politics, after he sparked outcry by releasing a campaign ad which depicts him shooting his political opponents.

Just days after 49 people were killed by a gunman in the Orlando massacre, Queensland MP Bob Katter published a campaign ad which showed him holding a smoking gun near two seemingly lifeless bodies, something meant to represent his disapproval of foreign ownership in Australia.

But on Thursday the rogue MP faced criticism from political opponents as well as high-profile media personalities, with some even calling for the 71-year-old to quit politics altogether.

Queensland Senator Barry O'Sullivan labeled the ad as "abhorrent," and slammed the depiction of violence in a political ad.

"Bob's done some crazy things over the years, but all of that pales into insignificance when he starts to promote the use of violence to murder unarmed political opponents and then declares his defense as he was 'having a bit of fun,'" O'Sullivan said on Thursday.

Katter's half-brother, and Labor party candidate in the Melbourne seat of Higgins, Carl Katter said the ad showed a "total disregard" for the victims of the mass shooting which happened less than a week ago in the United States.

"It's a total disregard for the loss of lives that we saw in Orlando recently, which is still having a huge impact on my community which is the LBGTI, but also the greater community," Carl Katter said.

Katter also faced criticism from the media on Thursday; high-profile broadcaster David Koch asked the independent MP whether or not he knew the Orlando massacre had occurred.

But Katter has defended the timing of the ad, saying he signed off on the video more than a week ago, and that he had "no idea when the thing went out".

"It most certainly wasn't under my control," he said.

Katter then turned the heat onto "the politically correct brigade" who took offence to the "screamingly funny" advertisement.

"You don't realize how stupid your remark is, with all due respects," Katter told TV host Koch, "Comic and humor is not in your pantheon."

Katter is the sitting member for Kennedy in Queensland, representing his own "Katter's Australia Party" at the upcoming election. Endit