Senator Hanson\u2019s polling<\/a> success to free publicity and the Liberals\u2019 poor performance, while denying he is jealous of his fellow political outsider.<\/p>\nA wide-ranging interview with the man and money behind all those yellow United Australia Party (UAP) billboards, ads and brochures reveals a plan to spend as much as $100 million to displace Ms Hanson as the go-to option for fed-up voters in 2028.<\/p>\n
If he can do that, Mr Palmer believes he will win enough power in the lower and upper houses of federal parliament to force a likely Labor-led government to adopt key UAP policies, such as stopping immigration and the pursuit of net zero. <\/p>\n
His most strident criticism of the One Nation leader was to suggest she won\u2019t be able to hold together a large group of MPs.<\/p>\n
He told this masthead that Ms Hanson has a \u201ctrack record with people who\u2019ve resigned when they\u2019ve been appointed as One Nation members,\u201d Mr Palmer said.<\/p>\n
The UAP \u2013 and National Party \u2013 note that about two-thirds of One Nation MPs elected to state or federal parliaments have later quit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a difficult thing to stand at a national election with 140 or 150 candidates,\u201d Mr Palmer said. It is \u201cvery hard to get everyone co-ordinated. And we\u2019ve seen what\u2019s happened in South Australia, where she got a guy elected who was a gay married to a Muslim guy, right? <\/p>\n
Mr Palmer said he believed Ms Hansen would make a move to the lower house of federal parliament and would get more votes than the Liberal party \u201cbased on the Liberal party\u2019s current performance because we don\u2019t know what it is\u201d. <\/p>\n
Mr Palmer then invoked the famous Monty Python \u201cDead Parrot\u201d sketch, saying: \u201cJohn Cleese said, \u2018If the parrot is dead, you can\u2019t revive him\u2019 \u2014 and the Liberal Party is a dead parrot.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a reference to newly elected One Nation MP Jason Virgo who \u2014 in an emotional maiden speech to SA Parliament in May \u2014 said he was openly gay, had a Muslim partner from Indonesia and \u201cloves migrants\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich are very anti-Pauline Hanson people. He got through, won a seat in (state) parliament, and yet he wasn\u2019t a typical party member if you know what I mean, so it wasn\u2019t consistent,\u201d Mr Palmer said. \u201cSo that does show a little bit of lack of control, but I think they\u2019re trying to fix that, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
One Nation is not alone in having problems with defections. The former Palmer United Party had three federal senators at one point. But two \u2013 Jacqui Lambie and Glenn Lazarus \u2013 then left to sit as independents.<\/p>\n
Mr Palmer said he talks to Senator Hanson quite often and celebrated her birthday with her: \u201cI had a bit of cake with her. Broke my keto diet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Ms Hanson is successfully highlighting problems in Australia, such as immigration, with One Nation arguing for a drastic cut to overseas arrivals. <\/p>\n
But Mr Palmer\u2019s UAP wants zero immigration \u2013 apart from family reunions and work visas \u2013 for an indefinite period, while infrastructure and housing supply catch up.<\/p>\n
The yellow brochure he has spent $7 million sending to all households says \u201cactual immigration, not net immigration, is approaching one million per year.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 568,000 migrant arrivals last year, down from 661,000 in 2024. These figures include temporary and permanent visa holders, as well as foreign students.<\/p>\n
This masthead asked the UAP to justify the \u201capproaching 1m per year\u201d claim but the information provided did not do so.<\/p>\n
The zero-immigration policy was written by Mr Palmer\u2019s wife, Anna, who immigrated from Bulgaria in 1993 when she was 18. She married a close friend of Mr Palmer\u2019s soon after and he walked her down the aisle. <\/p>\n
More than a decade later, they lost both their partners to cancer within weeks of each other. They consoled one another, then started dating, and married in 2007.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife is an Australian citizen,\u201d Mr Palmer said. \u201cShe thinks that people who are Australian citizens should deserve the attention of the government more than people who are not Australian citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
While his proposal would effectively stop long-term entries from any country, Mr Palmer was critical of One Nation\u2019s policy of refusing \u201cmigrants from nations known to foster extremist ideologies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Palmer said: \u201cI think it\u2019s bad to create hate in the country. We want to have a different feeling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to discriminate against people based on culture, race or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Mr Palmer was elected to federal parliament in 2013, representing the Sunshine Coast electorate of Fairfax, his aim was to become prime minister. He retired before his first term, of three years, was up.<\/p>\n
He said that now he just wants to get his policies adopted by whoever is in government.<\/p>\n
If he could have just one implemented, it would be abolishing the pursuit of net zero, which he claimed would save the government about $1.9 trillion \u2013 a figure he and the UAP have repeatedly said is partly based on budget forward estimates.<\/p>\n
No evidence has been produced to support the savings estimate.<\/p>\n
This masthead asked Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen\u2019s office for the government\u2019s forecast for Commonwealth-related transition costs. In its response, it cited an answer Mr Bowen gave in 2025, which was that the government\u2019s spend to date was $75bn.<\/p>\n
The Nationals claim the bill could be $9tn. <\/p>\n
The Liberals say a net-zero energy system would cost taxpayers at least $642bn, citing detailed analysis by Frontier Economics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can guarantee you, that\u2019s the wrong number,\u201d Mr Palmer said, adding that the Frontier figures did not \u201ccount replacement of the grid\u201d. That is incorrect.<\/p>\n
\ufeffMr Palmer then turned to Australia\u2019s homelessness and cost-of-living crisis while seated inside a car worth about half a million dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very upset when I see a family sleeping in a car, in a park, anywhere in this country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When it was pointed out he was discussing homelessness while sitting in a vehicle worth enough to buy a house in some parts of Australia, Mr Palmer replied: \u201cI think the car is doing its job by getting me to talk to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
By axing net zero and the NDIS, along with imposing a 25 per cent gas export tax, the UAP has said it could fund a 100 per cent increase in the health budget and 30 per cent lift in pensions.<\/p>\n
Mr Palmer said he was prepared to spend up to $100m on the UAP\u2019s federal tilt. The party doesn\u2019t contest state elections any more.<\/p>\n
If Mr Palmer\u2019s dreams materialise, when he returns to Canberra representing the currently Liberal-held north Gold Coast seat of Fadden, he will tip the scales at just 85 kilograms.<\/p>\n
Before Mr Palmer left the House of Representatives in 2016, he weighed 153kg and was falling asleep during debates.<\/p>\n
On a low-carb, high-fat keto diet, in four months he\u2019s dropped from 123kg to 98kg.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very easy doing keto,\u201d Mr Palmer said, while eating eggs for breakfast. \u201cI recommend it to everybody. I never feel hungry. I always feel happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said his severe hypertension, Type-2 diabetes and arthritis have gone. He can work till midnight instead of having a 2pm nap.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my appearance is better as well. But I\u2019m not doing it for appearances sake.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Ms Hanson, Mr Palmer defended Karl Stefanovic over that controversial interview with UK anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson.<\/p>\n
On his new podcast, Stefanovic had said he admired the tenacity and courage of Robinson, whose criminal history includes assaulting an off-duty police officer.<\/p>\n
Mr Palmer said Stefanovic had been shut down in a \u201cwoke, predictable\u201d attack for simply trying to \u201cdraw more out\u201d of Robinson. <\/p>\n
\u201cI did journalism at uni,\u201d Mr Palmer said. \u201cOne of the things they teach you is to nod. Why do you do that? Because you draw more out of people because they think you\u2019re sympathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Near the end of the interview with this masthead, Mr Palmer said: \u201cThe biggest things that I\u2019m doing in my life \u2026 haven\u2019t happened, but they will happen in the next year. We\u2019ll give you a new headline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked to elaborate, he said he wanted to end Australia\u2019s reliance on foreign fuel. He wouldn\u2019t provide more detail. But it\u2019s thought that the plan pertains to his Queensland coal interests.<\/p>\n
One Nation did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Nor did Liberal MP for Fadden Cameron Caldwell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Clive Palmer predicts Pauline Hanson will be the federal opposition leader after the next election, but 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