A robot sex expert, a clown and a former soccer player: Clive Palmer unveils his candidates for SA

An awarded Adelaide University alumnus who was behind a cancelled Love and Sex with Robots conference will run for the Senate in Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.

Adrian Cheok among South Australian candidates for Clive Palmer party.

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An awarded Adelaide University alumnus who was behind a cancelled Love and Sex with Robots conference will run for the Senate in Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.

The Senate aspirant will join a former Adelaide United soccer player, an active campaigner to keep Australia Day and a laughter therapist and fortune teller as candidates in South Australia.

Adrian Cheok, an Adelaide-born professor specialising in human-computer interfaces, was one of two men behind a conference dedicated to human-computer interfaces that was cancelled because of fears it would encourage people to make love with robots.

The Malaysian Inspector-General of police Khalid Abu Bakar told organisers the conference would be illegal, arguing “there’s nothing scientific about sex and robots”.

Professor Cheok and author David Levy cancelled the conference and moved it to Portugal in 2016, acknowledging the Muslim beliefs of the majority of Malaysians.

The winner of an Adelaide University Distinguished Alumni Award, in 2016, told the Sunday Mail on Saturday that his work had been mainly focused on how families could express love through technology.

Prof Cheok said he was running for the party because he believed the world was undergoing a monumental transformation where the polical elite are being overthrown by those frustrated with jobs going overseas.

“Populism is giving power to the common man and woman,” he said.

He joins two other senate aspirants – former Adelaide United soccer player Kristan Rees and Katie O’Connor – as candidates for each SA electorate.

Peter Salerno, who offers laughter therapy, fortune telling and inspirational speaking, will run in the state’s most marginal seat of Boothby.

The candidate for Spence, Ronald Fiedler, manages the Keep Australia Day The 26th Facebook page.

Details for each of the candidates are vague, with the United Australia Party website yet to upload biographies or policy positions for SA.

The Sunday Mail has requested details about candidates for weeks.

This week, party headquarters said candidates were still being vetted.

Flinders University school of social and policy studies senior lecturer Rob Manwaring said he had doubts the party would have much success in SA at the federal election. “On the one hand, with Nick Xenophon stepping back, there will be space for a minor party,” Dr Manwaring said.

“But this is the second time (Palmer has run candidates) and people seem less excited and there does not appear to be a clear policy agenda.”