Senator Pauline Hanson says she will halve the number of state MPs and reinstate an Upper House in Queensland if One Nation wins the next election. Credit:Lisa Maree Williams "Shane and I are very confident with the work that we do in our electorates and I think in north Queensland in general." Mr Katter said there was no question that One Nation's "stocks are high at the moment". "All I can say is we have a very strong agenda and I think we pursue that very effectively in representing people, especially in rural and regional Queensland." Mr Katter said One Nation "passed no legislation with eight members when they were in parliament".

"We've passed two pieces of historic legislation when we've been in government and forced other areas of massive changes." Mr Katter said he believed the crossbench would be as effective as always, and said member for Buderim Steve Dickson's defection would make the LNP work harder. "We welcome having another person on the crossbench," he said. "We intend on having a productive relationship with Steve and the KAP demonstrated that we'll work with anyone in pursuing our agenda in parliament and I think we've demonstrated that we can have a very constructive relationship with the opposition and the government and the rest of the crossbench." But Mr Katter labelled any moves to reduce the number of lower house seats as a "bush killer", saying it was already difficult to traverse his immense electorate.

Senator Pauline Hanson has said that One Nation would halve the number of state MPs and reinstate an Upper House if it wins the Queensland election. The Queensland Redistribution Commission is expected to release its report on the proposed new electoral boundaries by mid to late February, with an increase of seats from 89 to 93 due this year. Mr Katter, whose electorate is larger than Thailand, said he was supportive of the concept of an Upper House, but believed it would not improve representation for the bush, as senators would be unlikely to base themselves out in Mount Isa. "[They're] probably more often than not going to live on the Sunshine Coast or Brisbane - they're not going to base themselves in Mount Isa or Cairns, evidenced by what has existed in Queensland got a long time," he said. Mr Katter said he respected Ms Hanson was trying to address a lack of checks and balances in the unicameral system.

But he believed it could be addressed by having more competition, with a stronger influence of minor parties, which would also be more affordable than reintroducing a senate. "The duopoly of the major parties needs to be broken up to diminish or to reduce the influence of the large corporate influence on our parliaments," he said. "People are angry, they're disenfranchised, the Brexit, Trump, that's alive and well, that attitude in Queensland, because people feel dissatisfied that they're far too detached from the political process and I believe that's primarily because we've inherited this two-party dominated system. "It's not a mandate from heaven that they should govern for evermore and there should only ever be two parties - the political winds of change that are blowing at the moment, I welcome with open arms and embrace them. "Because we need competition at parliament."

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on the issue of the Upper House, creating more jobs for politicians was the "last thing on my mind". Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said the LNP did not support Ms Hanson's proposal. "We don't support anything that will sound a death knell for representation in rural and regional Queensland," Mr Nicholls said. "If you're serious about representing rural and regional Queensland you need elected representatives on the gronud."