Trumpet of Patriots election: What happened to Clive Palmer’s party
After millions of dollars and mass text messages, Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots’ campaign has been a major flop.
The newly named party, which has reportedly blown nearly $5 million on digital advertising, has so far failed to pick up any seats in the House of Representatives or Senate as of Sunday morning.
In an unsurprising blow, party leader Suellen Wrightson — dubbed ‘Australia’s next Prime Minister during the campaign — has been seemingly unsuccessful in winning the electorate of Hunter, near the NSW Central Coast, with Labor incumbent Dan Repacholi projected to hold onto the seat.
As of Sunday morning, Ms Wrightson has received 3.36 per cent of votes.
In a shock move, the party leader took to social media on Saturday to thank her fellow Hunter candidates before locking her Facebook and X accounts on Saturday evening.
“To my fellow Hunter candidates, thanks for a respectful & engaging debate about what we need in our community,” she wrote on X on Saturday before locking her accounts, which she had been posting from during the five week campaign.
“One thing we can all agree on is Australia is the best country on earth & our collective future is worth fighting for.”
Mr Palmer launched the Trumpet of Patriots in February this year, promising to adopt many of the policies of US President Donald Trump.
The mining billionaire created the party after losing his bid to re-register his United Australia Party in the High Court earlier this year.
“We will make Australia great with Trumpet of Patriots – a registered political party with the Australian Electoral Commission,” Mr Palmer said in a statement in February.
“The Trumpet of Patriots is running candidates in all Liberal and Teal seats, as well as the upper house, to be a force in Australian politics,” he added.
“The Australian people deserve real representation, and we will ensure they have that choice at the polls.”
The party copped public backlash after bombarding Aussies with unsolicited text messages from lead Senate candidate for Queensland, Harry Fong, in the lead up to Saturday’s election.
The messages were signed off by Mr Fong, an accredited lawyer, and urged people to “Vote1 (sic) Trumpet of Patriots”.
Hitting back, many fed-up Aussies took to social media to post Mr Fong’s mobile phone number taken from an archived – and now disappeared – page on the Queensland Bar website.
Mr Fong is a criminal defence lawyer who said he was standing with the Trumpet of Patriots to “fight against the entrenched political establishment that has put its own interests above those of everyday Australians”.
He is described as a “highly respected barrister with extensive experience in criminal law, civil litigation, dispute resolution, and commercial negotiations” on the party’s website.
According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, sending political text messages during local, state and territory or federal election campaigns is exempt from most spam and telemarketing rules.
Counting continues on Sunday.