Katter's Australia Party is facing a damaging split, as disillusioned members speak out against the party machine.

At the centre of the internal struggle is outgoing party president Rowell Walton, who says the party's management committee has broken the rules of its own constitution in seeking to remove him from the top job.

Mr Walton, an old friend of Bob Katter, says he is still the president despite the party moving to appoint someone else.

But he does not like what he has seen and says he will soon be resigning anyway.

"I think the more moderate people have been carefully exorcised from the party," he told 7.30.

"I haven't been able to identify exactly where that's coming from, but that's what you'd have to observe.

"The vast majority of people are very uncomfortable with the place the party finds itself today."

Chris Squelch, the party's former North Queensland chair, says it has moved to the right.

"The party has moved away from its central position from when we began the party," he said.

"It's moved away from to the right of the old National Party, it's somewhat occupying the zone of One Nation."

Fourteen months ago Mr Katter announced he was no longer content with standing alone as an independent, and would set up his own political movement.

Soon after, Katter's Australia Party merged with another group, the Queensland Party, which agreed with much of the party's platform about protectionism and support for rural industries.

This party had seats in the state parliament, led by former Liberal National Party member Aidan McLindon.

Mr McLindon lost his seat at the Queensland state election in March and is now the party director.

Speaking to 7.30, Mr McLindon played down suggestions the party was drifting too far to the right.

"It's not about left wing and right wing, it takes two wings to get the bird to save it from going around in circles," he said.

"That's certainly been Bob's [view] and the people who join the party."

He denied suggestions the party was in turmoil.

"Of course you're going to get politics in every tuckshop across every school across Australia," he said.

"You know, a squeak and squawk here across a huge organisation is certainly not our focus."

Changing of the guard

Peter Pyke is a former Katter Australian Party candidate with a long history in Queensland politics, having served as a Labor MP in the 1990s.

He argues Mr Katter is deeply disappointed the party did not win more seats at the state election, and after that "everything fell in a heap".

"Bob being Bob, next to God, decreed that all of the administration who had failed him should be sacked, and they were, every one of them," he said.

Mr Walton says some officials left voluntarily, but admits there was a changing of the guard.

The main example all critics point to is an advertisement run during the Queensland election campaign.

Defenders of the ad argue it was meant to highlight the hypocrisy of the LNP, but it was widely viewed as homophobic.

Mr Squelch said there was discontent within the party membership when the ad appeared.

"When they first came out, the cracks started to appear at that point," he said.

"A lot of us, alarm bells stared to ring at the point when we realised that something was happening that we didn't agree with."

Now 7.30 has obtained a copy for the party's confidential internal review of that campaign, which reveals the ad could have gone in even harder.

"The final form of the advertisement was far more watered down from that originally envisioned by the then parliamentary leader of the Queensland branch of the KAP," the review said.

That person was Mr McLindon, but he insists that was not his position.

"I may be accused of 101 things, but the fact is it was a distasteful execution in how it was done," he said.

"I don't think it was a surprise to anybody that it shouldn't be done in the way it was done."

'Dysfunctional'

Earlier this month, the management committee carried the motion to sack Mr Walton and replace him with activist cane farmer Max Menzel.

Mr Walton and his supporters argue such a move was unconstitutional.

"To be frank with you I have taken legal advice, and the advice is if I wanted to contest it in the courts, of course I am still the president, but I intend to resign from this political party," he said.

Mr Squelch also criticised the committee's move.

"To shove him aside and replace him with another person without any due process would indicate a party that lacks governance," he said.

But Mr McLindon says it is all above board.

"There is no backhand dealings. This is a party that wants to get in there and fight," he said.

"If you've got to make a few changes to make sure that you're heading in the right direction, that's got to be done. We don't make any apologies for that."

Mr Katter undoubtedly has popular appeal, but the challenge has been to channel initial enthusiasm into a disciplined party.

Mr McLindon says his party is the fastest growing political party in Australia.

"We will outweigh the ALP in membership numbers within 12 months from now at the current rate," he said.

"We are replacing the old-school Labor Party as we know it and the Country Liberal Party as we know it."

While Mr Walton agrees the party is well-positioned to pick up seats in the Senate, he warns the party is dysfunctional.

"There is some potential for this party to have some effect in Australia, but it's a real worry for me personally that it doesn't abide by its own constitution," he said.

"If it doesn't abide by its own constitution, how could you ever expect a group of people like that to propose to play a part in the governing of this country?"