‘Can’t put a price on liberty’: Palmer says election ad spend was worth it

Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer says the eye-watering amount of cash he poured into federal election advertising was justified, despite his party failing to pick up any seats in the House of Representatives.

The United Australia Party chairman pledged to spend about $70 million on his political marketing campaign, but as the vote stands, the best his party can hope for is a Senate seat in Victoria.

Clive Palmer remains confident of picking up the sixth Victorian Senate seat.Credit: Matt Dennien

Palmer was in Brisbane’s Supreme Court on Tuesday trying to put the brakes on a case brought against him by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Brisbane Magistrates Court.

Outside court, Palmer said his election advertising spend was worth it, and he accused the Australian Electoral Commission of corruption.

Palmer claimed AEC officers took ballot papers from the federal electorate of Petrie, a northern Brisbane seat comfortably retained by LNP MP Luke Howarth, and took them to their homes. He presented no evidence to support this.

He said AEC corruption “could be one of the reasons” his party didn’t pick up any lower house seats.

Rejecting Palmer’s accusation, the AEC said: “We track and account for every ballot paper in the election, with a documented chain of custody and rigorous ballot storage and transport arrangements in place.”

Palmer remained confident of picking up the sixth Victorian Senate seat; however, his party had fallen behind in that race on Tuesday.

“We should have a senator in Victoria, so that is very good, so he will be able to expose for the Australian people the corruption that goes on in the AEC,” Palmer said.

The United Australia Party increased its overall vote by 0.64 per cent to 4.07 per cent.

As the count stood on Tuesday, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party attracted about 100,000 more votes in total.

Regardless, Palmer believes his election cash splash was justified.

“You can’t put a price on liberty,” he said. “Governments may come and go, but freedom goes on forever.

“Good ideas are what matters for this country. So if we can contribute to the debate, if we can protect people from the misadventure that the AEC is, and we can put a highlight on corruption, it can never be wasted money.”

Palmer also denied reports that two houses from his family’s estate were put on the market days after his election losses.

The criminal charges brought against Palmer by ASIC relate to his 2013 federal election campaign.

Palmer was charged by the corporate regulator in July 2020 with two counts each of dishonestly using his position as a director and fraudulently gaining a benefit.

According to ASIC, these charges carry a combined jail term of 10 to 17 years.

The ASIC charges relate to the transfer of more than $12.1 million by Palmer between August 5, 2013, and September 5, 2013, through his company Mineralogy.

“[Palmer transferred] $12,167,065.60 from a bank account held by Mineralogy to bank accounts held by Media Circus and Cosmo Developments, and ultimately used it for the benefit of the Palmer United Party to fund its 2013 federal election campaign,” ASIC alleges.

“The funds were held by Mineralogy pursuant to existing agreements with other companies. The transfer and ultimate use of the funds was not in accordance with those agreements.”

Palmer has been trying to prevent the ASIC charges from proceeding for almost a year. The legal battle continues.

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