Half a world from the White House, another big-talking billionaire wants to make his country great again.
Clive Palmer, who made his fortune in mining, is running for the Senate on his right-of-center United Australia Party ticket. Billboards of his smiling face and raised thumbs are spread across the country in advance of next month’s election.
The 65-year-old, whose last foray into politics saw his party implode amid infighting and acrimony, has spent more than $30 million -- a significant sum in a country with a population less than 25 million -- attempting to win influence with an agenda that includes slashing taxes and doing more to tap Australia’s mineral wealth.
While he’s nowhere near as popular as Donald Trump -- polls show he’s unlikely to win any lower house seats -- Palmer has enough support to influence the crucial swing state of Queensland. The Australian Financial Review reported Thursday that he struck an alliance with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to work together under Australia’s preferential voting system, a move that could hurt the opposition Labor party’s chances of taking power if the race tightens over the coming three weeks.
Palmer rejects comparisons with the U.S. president, boasting of the large swing that catapulted him into federal parliament in 2013. “Donald Trump didn’t start to do anything for three or four years later,” he said from Brisbane on Australia’s northeast coast.
Like other populist politicians, Palmer is tapping into a deep vein of disaffection with the mainstream parties in Australia, where many voters feel left behind despite almost 28 years of uninterrupted economic growth. As a senator, Palmer would join a group of minor parties and independents likely to hold the balance of power in the upper house and wield an outsized influence on the legislative agenda.
Palmer turned to politics after collecting assets across Australia and his advertising blitz threatens to eclipse the government and Labor. Hundreds of yellow “Make Australia Great” billboards have popped up across the country, while advertisements have flooded television screens. He wants to run candidates in all 151 lower house seats.
In a country where vocal ambition doesn’t always earn praise, Palmer’s brashness and bold talk make him a target for criticism. Rival populist Pauline Hanson has said the billionaire was only in it for himself, while Anthony Albanese, a Labor member of Parliament, called Palmer’s previous political stint a “debacle.”
He served just one term as the Palmer United Party’s sole lawmaker in the lower house. Two of his three senators in the upper house defected and the party was de-registered in 2017 -- only to be revived as the United Australia Party last year.
“I’ve never had any pressure on me,” Palmer said. “It’s perceived pressure.”