One Nation pulls Palmer preference lifeline

Pauline Hanson has vowed to withhold preferences from Clive Palmer in his intended seat.

KAP’s Herbert candidate, Nanette Radeck, says there has been no talk of a deal with One Nation. Picture: Cameron Laird

Clive Palmer’s hopes of returning to federal parliament have been dealt a potentially fatal blow after Pauline Hanson vowed to withhold preferences in the north Queensland seat he is eyeing.

In a spiteful exchange, the wealthy businessman also went after Senator Hanson, saying his rebadged United Australia Party would preference One Nation last.

Referencing the 2016 collapse of Mr Palmer’s Queensland Nickel refinery north of Townsville with the loss of 800 jobs, Senator Hanson said the UAP would be bottom of the One ­Nation ticket.

“One Nation could not in all good conscience consider preferencing Clive Palmer until he pays all of his former workers’ entitlements,” she said, in a dig at the $300 million his company is said to owe.

Mr Palmer hit back, saying he had already turned down an ­approach by One Nation for UAP preferences — an assertion rejected by the Hanson party.

“We’ll be putting Pauline Hanson last,” Mr Palmer told The Australian.

The needle between them will spice up the race for the ­Townsville-based division of Herbert, the nation’s most marginal seat held by Labor’s Cathy O’Toole by 37 votes, and the best prospect for either One Nation or the UAP to break into the House of Representatives at the federal election expected in May.

Mr Palmer, who has already spent millions of dollars on political advertising, insists he will be the UAP candidate there.

Preferences will decide the contest, with Labor and the ­Coalition flag-bearer in Queensland, the Liberal National Party, each set to pour in resources to lift a low primary vote that has opened the door to a field of populists rounded out by Katter’s Australian Party.

The KAP, which swapped preferences with One Nation at the 2017 Queensland election, could hold the key as Mr Palmer continues to spend up big on ­advertising for the UAP, backed by what he claims to be a $50m war chest.

The Katter party’s candidate in Herbert, Townsville teacher Nan­ette Radeck, said yesterday no decision had been made on which party KAP would preference.

“When people ask me about that, I tell them we will put the Greens last and the majors (ALP and LNP) next to last,” she said. “After that, the rest is up to them.”

The depth of Mr Palmer’s pockets has been on show in wall-to-wall TV advertising during the Australian Open tennis telecast, a blitz that has cost more than $1m to date, by one industry estimate.

So far, his party has endorsed only one candidate for the federal election, One Nation defector Jen Sackley, the UAP’s north Queensland secretary. She will contest the Cairns-based seat of Leichhardt held for the LNP by Warren Entsch on a 4 per cent margin.

One Nation is yet to announce its candidate for Herbert, while the LNP has endorsed 2018 Queensland Young Australian of the Year Phillip Thompson, a former ­soldier who was severely injured in Afghanistan.

Mr Palmer has said repeatedly he will stand in Herbert, though speculation persists that his prospects would be better in the run-off for the final two Queensland Senate spots between the major parties, the Greens, One Nation and KAP.

He was elected to the house in 2013 for the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax, north of Brisbane, along with two senators from the then Palmer United Party, Jacqui Lambie and former rugby league star Glenn Lazarus.

A third PUP senator, Dio Wang, of WA, came in 2014, backed by independent Ricky Muir, who had formed an alliance with Mr Palmer. The bloc imploded well before Mr Palmer opted not to recontest his seat in 2016.

Ms Lambie, the lone survivor in the Senate, had to quit parliament in 2017 after being caught up in the dual citizenship fiasco.

Ms O’Toole won Herbert in 2016 on a primary vote of 30.5 per cent, but preferences from the Greens and One Nation pushed her across the line, snatching the seat from the LNP. That party’s primary vote, 35.5 per cent, was suppressed by One Nation polling 13.5 per cent and KAP 6.9 per cent.

The intervening state election in 2017 suggests that One Nation and KAP are, if anything, stronger in Townsville now. Averaged across the city’s three state seats, One Nation in 2017 pulled a primary vote of 19 per cent while KAP’s average was 14.7 per cent in the two it contested.

Importantly, KAP won the state seat of Hinchinbrook, north of Townsville, on preferences, despite finishing third in the primary count behind One Nation and the LNP, on 22 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

This suggests that one of the minnows could have a fighting chance in Herbert at the federal election if the major parties’ primary votes remain low and they lifted their own base vote into the mid-20 per cent range — a big ask. But it will increase the attraction to One Nation and KAP of another preference swap, cutting out Mr Palmer. Asked about the prospects of a deal with One Nation, Ms Radek, 49, said: “We have not had any discussions.”

Mr Palmer still has a potential wildcard to play: the mothballed QNI refinery, which is maintained by his company, despite ongoing legal proceedings by liquidators seeking to claw back some of the millions alleged to be owing to creditors and former staff.

If Mr Palmer reopened the plant ahead of the election, it would do more to restore his battered reputation in Townsville than any ad campaign.

“I’m on the roll in Townsville,” he said.

“I’ve got the biggest investment of anyone in Townsville. I’m the biggest private employer in Townsville — we’ve got 60 people working at the refinery and we’re getting ready to reopen it.

“Secondly, Pauline Hanson has declared herself president for life (of One Nation).

“She’s followed the example of Xi Jinping in China and Idi Amin from Uganda. I don’t think they will have many votes to give preferences to anybody.”