2022 Federal Election: UAP leader Craig Kelly calls on voters to put incumbent MPs last

United Australia Party leader Craig Kelly is threatening an extraordinary election strategy to oust every sitting MP – Labor, Liberal or Greens.

The leader of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party is calling for a scorched earth strategy against sitting MPs, a threat which could deal a blow to the Morrison Government’s hopes for re-election.

NSW MP Craig Kelly, who became UAP leader last year after quitting the Liberal Party, has said he will be advocating voters put sitting MPs last on the ballot paper at this year’s election.

UAP founder Clive Palmer attended a Freedom Rally in Brisbane in 2021, protesting health restrictions such as lockdowns and vaccine mandates. Picture: Richard Walker

Successor Craig Kelly was welcomed by protesters in Melbourne. Picture: Alex Coppel

With internal Liberal and Labor polling showing the UAP’s support is in the high teens in a number of outer suburban seats in Sydney and Melbourne, the threat, if carried through, has the potential to change the result in many close contests.

“My recommendation to everyone listening is you put the sitting member last so if you’re in a seat that has a sitting Liberal member of parliament you put that Liberal member last,” Mr Kelly told libertarian YouTuber Topher Field in an interview last month.

In 2019 Mr Palmer spent $83 million of dollars advertising an anti-Labor message which Liberal and Labor insiders concede played a large role in Bill Shorten’s defeat.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will be unable to rely on preferences from UAP voters in the 2022 election. Picture: Gary Ramage

At that election a majority of the UAP’s lower house preferences went to the Coalition.

But at this year’s election, the UAP’s slogan is the anti-incumbent message that voters “can never trust Labor, the Liberals or the Greens again”.

In recent months Labor MPs have been pushing the line that the UAP is a giant preference harvesting machine for the Coalition, a charge Mr Kelly was at pains to refute.

He said the only exceptions, to the general put-incumbents-last policy would be for MPs like Queensland’s Llew O’Brien and the retiring George Christensen who have both crossed the floor over pandemic issues.

In the same interview he defended the party’s preferences policy and claimed 1500 people put their name forward to be UAP candidates.

The party joined forces in a preference deal announced in November with Mr Palmer’s former political foe Campbell Newman and the Liberal Democrats.