Pauline Hanson slams Clive Palmer for ‘trying to buy candidates’

Pauline Hanson has accused Clive Palmer of trying to “buy” candidates for his start-up party, intensifying their feud.

Clive Palmer announces a $15,000 sponsorship package for the Saints Cricket Club in Townsville. Picture: Cameron Laird.

Pauline Hanson has accused Clive Palmer of trying to “buy” candidates for his start-up party, intensifying the feud between the two political populists.

Infuriated by the cherrypicking of One Nation talent for Mr Palmer’s new United Australia Party, Senator Hanson said voters should be wary of candidates who “chop and change”.

The Weekend Australian revealed that One Nation candidates had been offered campaign assistance worth up to $100,000 to defect to the new Palmer outfit, which is being set up to contest the federal election due by next May.

Mr Palmer has said he will seek to re-enter parliament by running for the Townsville-based seat of Herbert in north Queensland under the UAP banner.

“There’s an old saying you can’t buy your true friends, and Clive Palmer should know after his last tilt at federal politics, you shouldn’t buy your candidates,” Senator Hanson said.

“Voters should be worried of (sic) candidates who chop and change parties because Clive throws money at them. It should make voters question if his candidates can be bought down the track by someone else when they’re making decisions on the floor of parliament.”

One Nation candidate Sam Cox, who ran for the state seat of Burdekin, south of Townsville, at last November’s Queensland election, is the latest to say he had been sounded out about joining UAP. Mr Cox said he turned down the approach made by the rebadged Palmer party’s paid north Queensland secretary Jen Sackley, herself an ex-One Nation candidate.

Ms Sackley left One Nation after her demand to be paid $10,000 a month to contest the federal seat of Leichhardt in far north Queensland was turned down by Senator Hanson’s chief of staff, James Ashby.

She was recruited alongside One Nation running mates Sue Bertuch and Allan Evans, who ran for the north Queensland seats of Mulgrave and Townsville respectively.

In Cape York-based Cook, Ms Sackley performed strongly for One Nation at the Queensland election, pulling 44 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote to run a close second to Labor.

Senator Hanson accused Mr Palmer of trying to “cannibalise” her party. “I don’t have any confidence in Clive Palmer,” she said.

“The last I heard, Clive Palmer had one of the worst attendance rates in parliament, which only let his previous electorate down.”

Mr Palmer is trying to revive a political career that seemed dead when he failed to recontest the Sunshine Coast hinterland seat of Fairfax at the 2016 federal election, following the implosion of the then Palmer United Party.

His QNI nickel refinery near Townsville collapsed with the loss of nearly 800 jobs, prompting liquidators to pursue him and his companies over $300 million in unpaid bills.

He has launched a charm offensive in Townsville, promising to reopen the refinery and giving thousands in donations to sports and community groups, which appears to be winning over sections of a once-hostile electorate. Brushing aside action taken by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission to charge him with offences related to his dinosaur golf resort on the Sunshine Coast, Mr Palmer said: “I don’t think there is any prospect for that case. That is just a made-up case by the powers that be — it will go nowhere.”

Mr Palmer also described his fugitive nephew Clive Mensink as a “hero”, although he has ignored court orders to return to Australia to face questioning under oath about QNI. He was the sole director of operating company Queensland Nickel at the time the refinery went under.

“He offered to transfer all the employees and keep everyone ­employed,” Mr Palmer said.

“Mr Mensink is a hero, and you can quote me on saying that.”