Questions unanswered, but a mouthful on ‘mind control’

AWKWARD questions about his business dealings prompted Clive Palmer to suggest scrutiny of his affairs was part of a wider plot.

AWKWARD questions about his business dealings prompted Clive Palmer to make two new claims yesterday to suggest the scrutiny of his affairs was part of a wider plot.

Mr Palmer accused The Australian of tapping his phone and taking instructions from Rupert Murdoch on how to “get something” on the millionaire politician.

At one point the Palmer United Party leader also rang the alarm about attempts by The Australian to “control the minds” of readers.

Mr Palmer aired the claims just as he faced questions at the National Press Club and then on ABC TV yesterday about whether Chinese funds helped pay for his election campaign.

While Chinese investor Citic is taking action against him in the courts, Mr Palmer insisted he was the victim of the media.

“There are no actions against me personally, there are no complaints, there’s just the wrath of The Australian, which I can bear,” he said at the lunchtime address.

Yet Queensland Supreme Court records show that two Citic companies, Korean Steel and Sino Iron, have started proceedings with Clive Frederick Palmer named as the sole respondent.

When ABC News 24 presenter Lyndal Curtis asked about the matter later yesterday, Mr Palmer sought to change the subject to Mr Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, the ultimate owner of The Australian.

“This is just angry old Rupert from New York on his Skype telling the boys at The Australian ‘you’ve got to get something on Palmer, you’ve tapped his phone now for a year and you can’t get anything — if you want to stay employed you’ve got to do something’,” he said.

Hedley Thomas, the journalist at The Australian who has written extensively about Mr Palmer’s row with Citic, rejected that.

“I might have used Skype once in a decade for a family conversation — and I’ve never had a telephone or Skype conversation with Rupert Murdoch, or any conversation with him about Mr Palmer,” Thomas said.

“It would be better for Australia’s democracy if Mr Palmer gave proper answers to serious questions about what happened to $12 million of Chinese funds during his party’s election campaign.”

Mr Palmer has previously sought to distract attention from difficult questions by making eye-catching claims, such as that he is being spied upon by Australian authorities or that Mr Murdoch’s former wife Wendi Deng was a Chinese spy.

The editor-in-chief of The Australian, Chris Mitchell, said the newspaper was only reporting on legal proceedings in Western Australia and Queensland.

“Mr Palmer’s legal battles are a matter of public interest given his party has a fair bit of power in the Senate,” he said.

“The only people I have ever skyped are my four children.”