Ugly scenes as Palmer launches new party

There were tense scenes at a press conference by Clive Palmer as he launched a new party called the Trump-et of Patriots.

Billionaire Clive Palmer has clashed with journalists over claims his plan to spend millions to get his Trump-inspired candidate elected Prime Minister is “potty”.

Mr Palmer’s United Australia Party (UAP) spent more than $120 million to secure just one seat in parliament, despite a surge in support for minor parties and independents at the 2022 federal election.

While new limits are proposed to limit rich-lister donors spending up big in federal election campaigns the changes won’t kick in until after the 2025 election.

Now his new group he dubbed the Trump-et of Patriots is poised to do it all again as he calls for “men in dresses” to stay out of Australian schools, caps on home loans and support for families “going without food”.

But things got ugly early after Channel 9’s Andrew Probyn dubbed the idea he could win enough seats to install his preferred candidate as PM as “plainly potty”.

MORE: Revealed: Anna Palmer’s astounding income

Things got a bit heated. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“That’s because it’s a very low entry for journalists in this country and they don’t really have the proper analytic skills,’’ Mr Palmer replied.

“If we have a look about you’ll find in the coming days that President Trump’s policy in Australia has the support of more than 30 per cent of Australians, and you’d see a party taking that same support up against the Coalition.

“You’d see the seats forward for our party and winning seats in the House of Representatives. That’s why we’re here to do it. It happened in the United States. It’ll happen in Australia too.”

His dramatic entry into the 2025 election campaign could provide a boost to Peter Dutton’s chances funnelling independent and conservative votes to the Liberal Party.

During a wild press conference in Canberra, Mr Palmer agreed he was inspired by US President Donald Trump and vowed to Make Australia Great Again.

One of the big issues he declared was that Australian families can’t afford to eat.

“There’s over 3.7 million Australian households in this country that don’t have enough food, that can’t afford it because of the cost of living that the Labor Party has brought upon them because of the excess spending and waste in our public service, we find Australian children,’’ he said.

Mr Palmer said he had donated millions to Foodbank to feed struggling families.

He vowed to keep “men in dresses” out of schools. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Because I want to encourage other Australians, other billionaires that do nothing all day but sit on their arses to put some money in. But it hasn’t had that effect. People tend to like to keep their money, so I think the government should step in there,’ he said.

“The Australian Governments of all political persuasions have pretended that Australia is in good economic shape by using immigrants’ wealth every single year for over 20 years, and boast them as the government’s achievements to boost our economy, when in reality, the government have done nothing for the people that they represent.

“Too many people in parliament are worried about not holding their seat because they know they wouldn’t get a job outside. I’ve been to this place. I’ve seen the quality of the people that operate in the opposition and in the government, who share together picnics, on weekends, social outings, who don’t really dislike each other, actually, they’re quite adapted to each other.

“And that’s why Australia hasn’t had real democracy. That’s why we haven’t brought the hard questions to government departments that Elon Musk is doing in Washington at the moment and that’s why we’ve wasted the public’s money”

Mr Palmer said that immigration was “destroying our infrastructure, roads, schools and hospitals, creates congestion and the destruction of communities

He is the Chairman of Trumpet of Patriots. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Australia should be for all Australia’s living here. The Trump-et of patriots will put Australians first and make Australia great again,’’ he said.

Mr Palmer then suggested one of the big issues was trans women playing sports against biological females.

“Our policy is to recognise that there are two genders, a male and a female,’’ he said.

“We don’t want men in women’s sports and we don’t want males dressed as females confusing our children in our schools.

“All children should be entitled to a normal, safe environment in our schools and public toilets. All children must be entitled to decide who they are and what their sexual orientation is when they’re adults, not have it foisted on them before they’ve even commenced puberty.”

Mr Palmer also called for Kevin Rudd to be recalled from the US as Australia’s ambassador for insulting the US President.

“You know, it’s time to bring Kevin Rudd back from Washington. There’s not too many ambassadors in Washington that insult the President of the United States. Kevin Rudd ranks alone in that and Australia needs an effective representative in Washington that can support our nation in its time of toil, a time when our living standards are declining and when our people are hungry.”

Originally published as Ugly scenes as Palmer launches new party