If you’ve never heard of Josh Thomas, listen up.
The 27-year-old is an internationally acclaimed comedian who writes and stars in his own TV show, Please Like Me. You also might have seen him feature in Network Ten’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation.
And now Josh Thomas has just added one more achievement to his (ever growing) list.
He “took Bob Katter to task” during an appearance on ABC’s Q&A during a special episode focused on mental health.
It came after an audience member asked a question about the connection between homosexuals and suicide rates.
Specifially, the audience member asked Katter was: “The youth in this area that belong to minority groups, particularly homosexuals, have a much higher rate of suicide. In the past you have not addressed the topic of gay rights because you see it as irrelevant. Do you think it is appropriate for us to have a discussion about the links between regional Australia and suicide, and willingly omit an entire group of at risk individuals?
And that’s when Thomas made his magic. Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cs4bUoVvXo
The leader of Katter’s Australia Party, who once infamously denied the existence of homosexuals in North Queensland, was clearly uncomfortable, attempting to change the subject at various points in the conversation.
But Thomas was relentless.
“You’ve got an ad – you can still see it on YouTube – from The Katter Australia Party, about how homosexuals are evil. You said they don’t exist,” he said.
“For you to turn around and say you haven’t said homophobic things is just ridiculous.”
You can watch the controversial ad here:
Mr Katter said the mental health of gay people was not a priority for him, because nobody had contacted him about it.
“I can say that to my knowledge nobody has ever come to me with this problem,” Mr Katter said.
“I think the problem is that you say it’s not a priority but you talk about it quite a bit and when you do talk about it, you say awful things,” Thomas responded. “So, that’s the problem.”
Bam.
Top Comments
A whole article on the last few minutes of an important episode regarding mental health and suicide. It's a shame that this wasn't an article on the broader issue discussed for the most of the episode. Let's see if this comment gets through as my last ones saying a similar thing didnt!
Your responses are all over here. You are not bring censored.
Of course there's a whole lot more to this altercation on Q&A and I urge you all to check it out.
When it comes to this subject Josh Thomas is a young hero and Katter is an ignoramus with that cavalier & patronising attitude so prevalent among homophobic "old-school" macho "wanna-be's"..........he wouldn't even look at Josh, preferring to "play to the audience" - what a creep.
Attempting to diminish the history of homosexual victims with a smirking demeanor isn't exactly noble.
You may think he's a creep but he's one of a very small number of serving politicians who are actually out there passionately discussing mental health and suicide. He may be ignorant about homosexuals but he certainly knew very stat on the mental health of farmers and the aboriginal communities in his electorate. Before this show I had no idea that the suicide rate of aboriginals is almost 3 times that of the rest of the population. Did you see any other politicians up there discussing this?
Not sure how not looking Josh in the eye makes him a 'creep'. A bit rude perhaps but not creepy. He certainly has some misguided beliefs, but as someone originally from NQ who has seen Katter around (and my mum used to live with one of his staff) I have certainly never heard anybody classify him as creepy.