Despite pouring over $60 million into the Trumpet of Patriots party, Clive Palmer has failed to secure a single seat in either the lower and upper houses.
This comes after Clive Palmer spent $120 million and $60 million in the 2022 and 2019 election, with Victorian senator Ralph Babet being the only candidate to achieve election.
The Albanese Government has passed legislation placing caps on large political donations during election campaigns. The legislation is due to come into effect next federal election, meaning Clive Palmer scale donations may be a thing of the past.
Yet critics claim while these laws are a step in the right direction, they unfairly disadvantage Independent candidates and do nothing to tackle the issue of false and misleading political advertising. Currently it is illegal to lie in commercial advertising, yet it is legal to produce misleading political advertising material. A recent report by the Australia Institute, showed that 89% of Australian’s support truth in political advertising laws.
Image: Image: Shutterstock
Produced By: George Pople
Featured In Story: Professor Mark Kenny
First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 7 May 2025