Clive Palmer spent about $245 per first preference vote in Trumpet of Patriot’s failed election run

The insane figure billionaire Clive Palmer spent to secure a smattering of votes for his fringe outfit Trumpet of Patriots can be revealed.

Clive Palmer spent about $245 per first preference vote received by the Trumpet of Patriots - with the fringe party failing to pick up a lower house seat despite the billionaire’s $60m cash splash.

The most recent figures from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) reveal Trumpet of Patriots won a total of 244,095 first preference votes.

This was about 1.85 per cent of total first preference votes.

Mr Palmer told The Daily Telegraph he spent about $60m on the campaign with Agdile Media Group estimating Mr Palmer dedicated about $24.1m on television, YouTube, and on-demand platforms.

Clive Palmer has spent about $245 per first preference vote won by the Trumpet of Patriots, with the billionaire spending a total of $60m on the fringe party’s campaign efforts. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

On Sunday he said the 2025 election campaign would be his last political hurrah, telling the publication that “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.”

Trumpet’s star candidate gets … 3458 votes

Following Saturday night’s count, Trumpet of Patriot’s star candidate and party leader Suellen Wrightson won just 3458 first-preference votes, 3.44 per cent, in her NSW Central Coast seat of Hunter.

While she attempted to unseat popular Labor MP and former Olympic shooter Dan Repacholi, the current count has revealed a 5.4 per cent swing to Labor.

Despite being described as “Australia’s next Prime Minister” during the campaign, Ms Wrightson received the fourth lowest amount of votes out of the nine-person ballot.

In comparison, One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds received 16,405 votes, or about 16.33 per cent of the vote.

Following the campaign, Ms Wrightson has also locked her social media channels, including her Facebook and X pages.

Trumpet of Patriots leader Suellen Wrightson received just 3458 first-preference votes in the race for Hunter. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

Voters revolt over Trumpet’s text blast

The Trumpet of Patriots party has courted controversy since Mr Palmer announced he would be backing the Trump-aligned outfit, voters revolted after they were blanketed with a barrage of unsolicited texts urging them to vote for the party.

The text messages contained outlines of the party’s key policies, including “solve housing fast trains 20 Min CBD cheaper land (sic)”, “cut immigration by 80 per cent”, and “double fees for foreign students”, plus a link to the Trumpet of Patriots’ website.

It’s Queensland senate candidate Harry Fong became public enemy number one after his name “H Fong” was used in the authorisation sign-off on the texts.

Although the tactic is legal and within the AEC guidelines, enraged internet sleuths found Mr Fong’s contact details and began hounding him with texts.

During the campaign, Anthony Albanese also said that while he would personally support banning political parties from sending unsolicited election texts, he conceded it could be unconstitutional.

Originally published as Clive Palmer spent about $245 per first preference vote in Trumpet of Patriot’s failed election run