Trumpet blows it and billionaire Clive Palmer says he’ll bow out of politics

Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots suffered diabolical results in the election, prompting the billionaire to make a drastic call.

Billionaire Clive Palmer has said he is now “too old for politics”, flagging a potential end to the Trumpet of Patriots after the minor party’s poor result in Saturday’s election.

Despite spending up to $60m million on a mass advertising campaign and running candidates in almost every electorate, Trumpet of Patriots failed to pick up a single lower house seat and looks increasingly unlikely to pick up any seats in the Senate.

According to the Australian Electoral Commission, the party only picked up 1.85 per cent of the primary vote, with One Nation outperforming it on 6.17 per cent.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph on Sunday, Mr Palmer said while “he was not really disappointed” with the outcome, he indicated the Trumpet of the Patriots might not return in three years’ time, saying he instead wanted to focus on philanthropy.

Billionaire Clive Palmer said he is “too old for politics” after a poor performance from his party Trumpet of Patriots. Picture: Dan Peled / Getty Images

When asked if he would continue to fund the party at the next election, or form a new party, Mr Palmer said: “I’m 71 and I’m getting too old for politics.”

“I’d rather spend time helping the tens of thousands that are homeless and hungry in this country … that’s why I’ve donated $5m to Foodbank,” he said.

Any spending at the 2028 election will be severely hampered by new rules restricting campaign expenditure.

Trumpet of Patriots was Mr Palmer’s latest political venture, which he set up after losing a High Court bid to re-register his former United Australia Party (UAP) in February after it was voluntarily deregistered.

Prior to that, his first political party was called the Palmer United Party.

Australian businessman Clive Palmer with leader of the Trumpet of Patriots party Suellen Wrightson and UAP senator Ralph Babet. Picture: Dan Peled / Getty Images

UAP Senator Ralph Babet is the only representative of a Palmer-backed party currently in parliament and will go up for re-election in 2028.

Mr Palmer said while Mr Babet was still in parliament he would want to continue the UAP “in some form”.

“If we had run as the United Australia Party we would have done better,” he said.

“I can’t see us winning anything in the Senate.”

Despite voters raging over the Trumpet’s mass text campaign, which left frustrated voters unable to opt out, Mr Palmer said he didn’t believe it had harmed their results.

He revealed that the party had sent out over 17 million texts and had received over 10,000 complaints as a result.

“Ten thousand is pretty minimal compared to 17 million and the people who were complaining were not going to vote for us anyway,” he said.

Mr Palmer said he was surprised at the anti-Trump sentiment over the last five weeks, which he believed was more harmful to the party’s result.

An advertisement for the Trumpet of Patriots calling Suellen Wrightson “the next prime minister”.

Despite the poor outcome, the billionaire said he did not regret spending his money on the campaign.

“It doesn’t worry me – I earn more than that every couple of months,” he said.

“All you can do is sleep in your bed, love a good woman and anything else like that (running a political party) is just like playing golf.

“It’s my money, why can’t I spend it … the advertising supports a lot of journalists and newspapers and it creates a lot of debate.”

The comments come as Trumpet of Patriots leader Suellen Wrightson – dubbed “Australia’s next prime minister” in their ads – had a miserable outcome in the electorate of Hunter near the NSW Central Coast, receiving just 3.41 per cent of primary votes.

She had barely been seen on the ground campaigning in the electorate. After thanking her fellow Hunter candidates on social media, the party leader locked her Facebook and X accounts on Saturday evening.

When contacted for comment, Ms Wrightson said: “I am not going to give you any comment for your story at all.”

Clive Palmer timeline

1954

March 26: Born in Footscray, Victoria, Australia.

1960s–1970s

Raised on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Attended Southport State High School.

Studied law and journalism at the University of Queensland but did not complete his degree.

1980s

Became involved in real estate and mining investment, amassing wealth through property development and mining interests.

1986

Founded Mineralogy, a mining company that would later secure lucrative iron ore tenements in Western Australia.

Clive Palmer in 1986.

2002

Purchased the Coolum Resort (Hyatt Regency Coolum), later transforming it into the Palmer Coolum Resort.

2008

Named Australian National Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia.

2009

Acquired the rights to several massive iron ore projects and signed deals with Chinese companies (notably CITIC Pacific).

2012

Announced plans to build Titanic II, a replica of the original Titanic.

Clive Palmer in 1999.

2013

Founded the Palmer United Party (PUP).

September: Elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Fairfax (Queensland).

2014–2015

Faced legal and political controversy, including the resignation of several PUP members and lawsuits from Chinese company CITIC over royalty disputes.

2016

Did not recontest his seat in Parliament. The Palmer United Party effectively ceased functioning as a major force.

2018

Rebranded PUP as the United Australia Party (UAP), reviving the name of an earlier historical party.

Clive Palmer in 2008.

2019

Spent an estimated $60 million on UAP’s federal election campaign; the party failed to win seats but was credited with influencing preference flows.

2020

Engaged in public campaigns against COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccines.

Lost legal battles related to defamation and mining royalties.

2022

UAP ran again in the federal election with a large advertising budget. Palmer failed to win a seat, but Ralph Babet (UAP) secured a Senate position for Victoria.

2023–2024

Continued involvement in business, especially litigation concerning mining operations.

Made headlines for purchasing luxury items and property, and for his outspoken political opinions.

Originally published as Trumpet blows it and billionaire Clive Palmer says he’ll bow out of politics