Palmer recruits Origin star Greg Dowling

Clive Palmer will step aside after appointing rugby great Greg Dowling to run in the seat of Herbert.

Former Queensland Origin star Greg Dowling. Picture: Justin Brierty

Clive Palmer has confirmed that he will run for the Senate at the May 18 election, blaming the electoral commission for sinking his plans to stand in the Townsville-based house seat of Herbert.

More : Federal Election 2019

As foreshadowed by The Australian, the billionaire businessman has announced that former rugby league international Greg Dowling will tackle Herbert for the United Australia Party.

Mr Dowling, a local businessman, brushed aside questions about the unhappy experience of fellow rugby league great Glenn Lazarus as a senator from 2013-16 for the now-defunct Palmer United Party.

He said he would bring “honesty and hard work” to parliament if elected in Herbert, the nation’s most marginal seat held by 0.02 per cent for Labor by MP Cathy O’Toole.

Mr Palmer’s change of tack to run for the Senate was widely anticipated after Newspoll showed the UAP had only 8 per cent of the vote in Herbert and no chance of winning.

But Mr Palmer said the Australian Electoral Commission’s “intervention” had persuaded him to step aside.

”I moved to Townsville which the AEC refused to acknowledge even though I lived here two weeks of every month,” he said. “I am very happy to step aside for the great man Greg Dowling.”

However, electoral rules stipulate that a candidate need only be eligible to be listed on the

electoral roll to stand for parliament.

Mr Palmer said UAP polling showed his new party would win six Senate spots.

Mr Palmer is a divisive figure in Townsville after the collapse of his nickel refinery and the sacking of 800 workers in 2016.

The federal government was forced to cover $66 million of workers’ entitlements after the refinery went into liquidation.

Mr Dowling lives in Townsville with his wife, Rhonda, and two children and owns a fast-food restaurant in the north Queensland city.

Earlier yesterday, a UAP source confirmed that a “high-profile” Townsville sports star would run in Herbert but would not confirm the identity.

Preselection of a star candidate could shift the balance in the knife-edge contest — held by first-term Labor MP Cathy O’Toole on a margin of 37 votes — particularly with the flow of preferences from the fledgling minor party.

The UAP is unlikely to direct preferences to the Liberal National Party after Mr Palmer’s falling-out in 2012 with the conservative party he helped bankroll for years.

UAP officials met last night to finalise preselection for Herbert as Mr Palmer released a video on ­social media attacking Bill Shorten and Labor.

The businessman has been spending about $1m a week for several months setting up and promoting the United Australia Party, preselecting candidates in 134 seats across all states and terri­tories. The high number of UAP candidates for lower house seats will help his push to secure a spot in the Senate and possibly win Senate seats in other states.

Earlier this month, Mr Palmer insisted he would stand in Herbert after it was revealed it was one of the few seats in which his party was yet to endorse a candidate.

Mr Palmer also promised to move his family to the north Queensland city. That, too, failed to happen, heightening speculation his intention all along had been to run for the Senate.

Earlier this week, Mr Palmer was challenged to pay businesses and government agencies owed up to $300m from the collapse of his nickel refinery in Townsville after making a surprise offer to settle with short-changed workers.

If Mr Palmer follows through, he will spend about $7.16m making up the difference between what Queensland Nickel staff received from a federal government fund and what they were owed when the QNI plant went bust in 2016.

Mr Palmer formed the Palmer United Party in 2013, winning the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax.

Additional reporting: Charlie Peel