Unvaccinated billionaire Clive Palmer claims he doesn’t need the Covid jab because he’s ‘not in bad shape’ and leads a ‘healthy life’.
The mining magnate on Wednesday announced he is making another run at federal politics, promising his United Australia Party would launch the ‘largest and most extensive political campaign in the nation’s history’ ahead of this year’s election.
A vaccine-mandate opponent, Mr Palmer says his party has attracted more than 80,000 members, and will be backed by a campaign with significant resources that can win seats in the upper and lower house.
Unvaccinated billionaire Clive Palmer (pictured) claims he doesn’t need the Covid jab because he’s ‘not in bad shape’ and leads a ‘healthy life’
The 67-year-old’s press conference was held at Brisbane’s Hyatt Regency, where a check-in sign at the door stated proof of vaccination is required for entry to the venue.
When asked about any potential rule breaking, Mr Palmer fired back.
‘I don’t think I need a vaccination for Covid personally, I haven’t caught it, I have a healthy life,’ he said, undeterred by the potential impact Queensland’s vaccine mandate may have on various events during the campaign.
‘I don’t think I’m in bad shape. I think I look a lot more trim now than when I did when I was in parliament.
‘I haven’t checked into the hotel, I haven’t gone to a restaurant here, I just came up to the escalator and walked into this room.’
Mr Palmer’s United Australia Party plans to field Senate candidates in every state and territory, with the one-time lower house MP last tasting victory in 2013 when he won the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax.
In March, the outspoken businessman will return to court where he faces up to five years jail for fraud and corporate misconduct offences.
The vaccine-mandate opponent (pictured) says his party has attracted more than 80,000 members, and will be backed by a campaign with significant resources
He is accused of funneling $10million from his Mineralogy mining company to into his 2013 election campaign.
The mogul has categorically denied the allegations, calling them ‘nonsense’.
‘The reason I’ve come back into politics and taken a key role at this important time is because of the state of the nation,’ he said pointing to the level of national debt.
‘I’d like to be on my boat but I’m not, I’m in this situation.’
Mr Palmer did not speculate on just how much money he planned to shell out during the political campaign, saying ‘I don’t budget, we just respond to the political circumstance’.
But if his claims are true that he aims to make the most expensive political campaign in Australian history, the cash splash will need to surpass $80million – the figure he spent during 2019 federal election running attack ads against the Labor Party.
The mining magnate on Wednesday announced he is making another run at federal politics promising his United Australia Party would launch the ‘largest and most extensive political campaign in the nation’s history’ ahead of this year’s election
The UAP has just one seat in the federal parliament – the electorate of Hughes held by Craig Kelly, who was elected as a Liberal candidate until he resigned to sit as an independent before joining the UAP.
But Mr Palmer continues to spruik the party’s chances in the election to be held sometime before the end of May, and says candidates will also be fielded in every lower house seat.
‘We can win seats in Western Sydney, Western Melbourne. There are seats in Queensland that we can win,’ he said.
The party’s Senate team also includes former Deloitte Australia chief executive Domenic Martino in NSW and property executive Ralph Babet in Victoria.
The announcement follows controversy sparked by Mr Kelly, who caught the attention of the Therapeutic Goods Administration after spamming people with unsolicited text messages last year.
The messages included a link to a website showing listings of ‘adverse event notifications’ from COVID-19 vaccines, which TGA’s John Skerritt labelled a misuse of data.
