Clive Palmer has set the scene for his Trumpet of Patriots party launch with placards and ‘Make Great Again’ hats awaiting candidates and guests at the billionaire’s resort.
Mr Palmer’s helicopter sits beside the road driving into the Palmer Coolum Resort on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, with party placards lining the way.
Ahead lies staff donning yellow party merchandise caps, scattered around the resort as they await upwards of 600 guests and candidates.
United Party Senator, Ralph Babet, who was elected under Mr Palmer’s former party, whizzes past fully suited in a golf buggy. He remains Mr Palmer’s lone federal representative.
Mr Palmer has spent millions of dollars on federal election campaigns, with the May 3 poll no different as he seeks to gain more than one seat.
Having only one voice in federal parliament has not dampened his enthusiasm as the entire legion of Trumpet of Patriots candidates are expected at the campaign launch on Saturday.
Since he vowed at a recent National Press Club address to bombard ns with advertising, billboards and videos have been appearing thick and fast across the physical and digital landscape.
Inside the main marquee at his resort, walls are adorned with Trumpet of Patriots placards. On seats sit more yellow caps with a four letter slogan: ‘Make Great Again.’
The event will feature speeches from Mr Palmer, federal leader Suellen Wrightson and candidates from across the country.
American political commentator Tucker Carlson will begin the event via a video feed.
The political party has committed to driving down cost of living through high-speed rail, allowing ns to access superannuation for a housing deposit and capping interest rates at three per cent.
Other policies include establishing a department of government efficiency, akin to the one set up in the United States and cutting immigration to ‘sustainable’ levels.
Part of the party’s immigration policy includes limiting foreign buyers from purchasing n homes and prime agricultural land.
Mr Palmer is also calling for the abolition of net zero and Paris Agreement targets.
‘ needs common-sense solutions, not professional politicians who are out of touch with the struggles of everyday ns,’ he said.
‘The Trumpet of Patriots is committed to policies that put people first and restore fairness to the housing market.’
Speaking in Canberra on Thursday, Mr Palmer accused the major parties of staging the most boring election campaign he could recall.
He said his party would preference them last in the seats they held.
Cutting government waste
This is central to the party’s identity and is a clear echo of the Elon Musk-run department of government efficiency or DOGE in the US.
In fact, Mr Palmer name-checked the X and Tesla owner.
‘Our biggest policy is to cut government waste, much as Elon Musk is doing in the United States,’ he said.
However, actual details about how the Trumpet of Patriots would go about slimming down government bureaucracy in Canberra were thin on the ground.
Mr Palmer suggested his party planned to trim the red tape in the ‘same way as Musk’.
‘We plan to have a team of people…who can go through the procedures in that sees more and more of the public sector having more and more of our capital,’ he added.
‘You’ve got to realise the public sector doesn’t create wealth and it’s the private sector that does. So the more money we’ve got in the private sector creating jobs, wealth and growth the bigger taxation and the better taxation base we’ve got.’
Recognising only two genders
In a carbon copy of the US President, Mr Palmer said his new party would only recognise two genders – male and female.
‘We don’t want men in women’s sports and we don’t want males dressed as females confusing our children in our schools,’ Mr Palmer said.
‘All children should be entitled to a safe and normal environment in our schools and public toilets.
‘All children must be entitled to decide who they are and what their sexual orientation is when they’re adults, and not have it foisted on them before they have even commenced puberty.’
Trump signed an executive order recognising only male and female sexes just days after being sworn in as President.
Recalling Kevin Rudd
Mr Palmer also claimed he would recall former PM Kevin Rudd as the n ambassador to the US, following damaging revelations of the former prime minister’s bad-mouthing of Trump.
‘It’s time to bring Kevin Rudd back from Washington,’ Mr Palmer said.
‘There’s not too many ambassadors in Washington that have insulted the president of the United States.
‘Kevin Rudd ranks alone in that and needs an elected representative in Washington that can support our nation in a time of toil, in a time where our living standards are declining and when our people are hungry.’
Mr Rudd has in the past labelled the President a ‘village idiot’, a ‘traitor to the West’ and ‘the most destructive president in history’.
Trump has previously signalled his disapproval of Mr Rudd, branding him ‘nasty’.
‘I don’t know much about him. I heard he was a little bit nasty,’ Trump told GB News last year.
‘I hear he’s not the brightest bulb, but I don’t know much about him. If he’s at all hostile, he will not be there long.’
Feeding the hungry
Mr Palmer has long campaigned to raise awareness about the hunger crisis in .
But his solution to the food crisis is also apparently rooted in cutting government waste.
‘There’s over 3.7 million n households in this country that don’t have enough food, that can’t afford it because of the cost of living that the Labor Party has brought upon them because of the excess spending and waste in our public service, we find n children going to be at night hungry,’ Mr Palmer said.
The billionaire claimed he had donated $5million to Foodbank to help feed struggling families.
‘I was personally concerned about it, that’s why I donated $5million because I want to encourage other ns, other billionaires who do nothing all day but sit on their a**e put money in,’ he said.
‘But it hasn’t had that effect. People tend to like to keep their money so I think the government should step in there.’
Capping immigration
Mr Palmer, who is ‘s sixth richest person, with an estimated wealth of nearly $23billion, also hinted that the Trumpet of Patriots would seek to cap immigration.
‘Too much immigration destroys our infrastructure, roads, schools and hospitals, creates congestion and the destruction of communities,’ he said.
‘ should be for all ns living here. Trumpet of Patriots will put ns first and make great again.’
Building high-speed rail networks into major cities to enable cheaper housing
In perhaps his most left-field policy announcement, Mr Palmer pointed to policies brought in by the Japanese government to tackle their housing crisis.
‘When you look at some of the solutions that were adopted by the Japanese government when the same thing happened in Tokyo and Yokohama was to put a fast train just 120km outside of Tokyo and to develop cheaper land for their population where they could all commute to the city within 20 minutes,’ he said.
Mr Palmer said this would allow young people to put a foot on the housing ladder.
This was supported by Ms Wrightson, who added: ‘We can solve the housing crisis by (building) fast trains from our capital cities to regional to open up affordable land for housing with a 20-minute commute to the CBD.
Investing in n manufacturing
Asked whether he would seek to emulate Trump’s punitive tariffs would impact ‘s steel production, Mr Palmer said ‘I don’t think so’.
‘I think we need more steel production in , we need more manufacturing in ,’ he added.
‘We export so much iron to China and japan they use that for their manufacturing base and they become the world’s largest manufacturer.
‘We want jobs in . We’ve got substantial iron ore deposits, substantial coal deposits, bauxite, copper, molybdenum – those minerals should be developed here.’
He also called for ‘s steel mills to be brought into the 21st century with new technology.
‘It makes sense to invest in our country,’ he said.
Free speech
When questioned whether spending $123million to gain only one seat was a wise use of money, Mr Palmer claimed it was.
‘It’s a good use of my money because at the last election we spent $100million saying that the Covid vaccine was not safe and effective and it’s proven not to be safe and effective,’ he said.
‘One in five million ns didn’t have the vaccine. That’s $20 each based on your calculations and that was a good investment.’
He added: ‘I’m more than happy to spend my funds on something protective, defending the rights of free speech and whatever is required to be spent it will be spent.’
Asked if he would be running at the election, Mr Palmer claimed he was ‘too old’ and would only serve as a ‘functionary’.
At one stage, Mr Palmer misspoke and incorrectly referred to the party as the ‘trumpet of parrots’.