The Katter Australia Party MP spoke out following a decision by hat maker Akubra to use European skins to make its broad-brimmed hats, instead of a mix of both local and imported.
The move by the century-old company will see the closure of a Kempsey-based rabbit fur processing operation and the loss of contracts for local workers.
Mr Katter pointed the finger at the government, saying Australians were a “bunch of bunnies if we keep voting for people that are enforcing this paradigm upon us where we buy everything from overseas”.
“We keep electing governments that force upon us a regime that forces us to buy things from overseas,” he said.
“There is not an Australian person that I know that would not be prepared to pay an extra $3 to meet a higher cost of living than we enjoy in Australia.”
Mr Katter also threatened to farewell his own iconic hat in the wake of decision, comparing Akubra to the now US-owned Vegemite.
“There is a message there from Akubra,” he said.
“If I switched over from vegemite to Dick Smith’s Ozemite, then the same fate might well await one of the great icons of Australia, Akubra.”
Akubra chief financial officer Roy Wilkinson said the switch to only European rabbits was a difficult one.
Mr Wilkinson told the ABC that it was a “gut wrenching” decision, but the hats would remain Australian-made.
“The hats are still Australian made,” he said.
“There are 85 to 90 people who work here who construct the hat.”
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