Relief from the drivel of Palmer’s painful ad campaign

Tomorrow can’t come soon enough. At last we will all be spared the political ads that have dominated our TV shows, interrupted our favourite radio programs and taken up way too many pages of our newspapers. Some peace and calm should be restored to our lives.

Mind you, after the sheer horror of watching the wall-to-wall ads upon which they say Clive Palmer spent more than $30 million, Saturday will tell us whether that much money producing that much advertising can actually induce some form of viral amnesia in the seat of Herbert and beyond. I find it really hard to believe voters could put a No 1 beside Palmer’s name, given his rotten record.

We should all remember that Palmer once won the federal seat of Fairfax. He barely ever made it on to the parliament floor to speak or vote. He treated the people of Fairfax and parliament as not much more that a sick joke.

Queensland may have given the fringe-dwellers some succour and comfort for a while, but is now clearly rejecting them. One Nation has suffered the ignominy of Steve Dickson and James Ashby trying to secure donations from the National Rifle Association of America. If that had not brought enough disgrace on Hanson’s team, Dickson’s performance in the strip club proved he was a low-grade yobbo not fit to run for office.

Having already introduced us to the dangerously racist Fraser Anning, Hanson owes the nation an apology.

As I wrote these columns in the days leading up to the election, I expected to write much more about the Greens. They have been so busy tearing themselves apart that campaigning has been sacrificed on the altar of hatred and division. While parties of the far Left have a history of permanent infighting, the Greens are in the process of making division their own special artform. They receive about 10 per cent of the primary vote at every election. It is enough to elect a few senators but they do not seem to have the ambitions of Europe’s Greens, who strive for coalition deals with anyone who will treat those seriously.

On Monday, Palmer placed full-page ads in the major newspapers right around the country in which he promised to increase the aged pension by $150 a week. If ever Palmer, God forbid, had a real say in the government, he would condemn our children and grandchildren trying to pay off the record debt he would create. The price tag for this largesse would be more than $3 billion. I wonder if Clive might pay for some of it himself. He has the cash.

Thankfully Palmer is not polling too well and with a bit of luck this might be the last time we have to listen to his drivel. Seeing the back end of him would be a great boost for political discourse in this country. And remember this — every policy Palmer espouses will benefit his companies.