PM Scott Morrison leaves door open for Clive Palmer deal

Scott Morrison could still do a deal with Clive Palmer, refusing to reject preference deals with his party.

United Australia Party leader Clive Palmer. Picture: Shae Beplate

Scott Morrison has left open the prospect of potential preference deals with Clive Palmer and the United Australia Party after today’s Newspoll revealed a $30m advertising spend has put the mining billionaire in a powerful position this election.

But the Prime Minister told reporters in Adelaide, in the marginal seat of Boothby, that he has not spoken personally with Mr Palmer. He did not rule out a future discussion personally.

“I did see some comments (Mr Palmer made) about our approach when we made a criticism of him some years ago but I’m not going to be held back by that,” Mr Morrison said.

Scott Morrison. Picture: Gary Ramage

“Nor am I here to offer any defences of Mr Palmer. He’s big enough to do that for himself. Parties will have discussions at the close of nominations and the preference tickets will be issued next week in the normal course of events.”

Mr Morrison said there was no “equivalency” to be made between Clive Palmer and One Nation and that his party’s position on Pauline Hanson’s ticket was “made some weeks ago.”

“If we are talking about preference deals what I want to understand is why the Labor Party is preferencing the Greens ahead of the Coalition when the Greens are for death taxes and shutting down jobs in central Queensland,” he said.

“What I am saying is that people should vote Liberal. I’m not suggesting anyone should vote for any other party other than the Liberals or Nationals and if you vote for us our plan is to ensure that the preferences are not distributed at all.

“No, I haven’t had a chat to Clive. What we are seeking to do is to ensure that a Coalition majority government is elected.”

.@ScottMorrisonMP on @CliveFPalmer preferences: I’m not suggesting anyone should vote for any other party, other than the Liberals and the Nationals.

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— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 23, 2019