A co-founder of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party says Clive Palmer met him and asked if he was interested in playing a role in his organisation.

David Ettridge says the mining magnate turned federal MP approached him at an Adelaide hotel during a Palmer United Party (PUP) rally after the 2013 federal election.

"He just suggested to me that if the opportunity arose that there could be a part for me to play in South Australia," he told AAP.

"Nothing bigger than a state role."

Mr Ettridge, a businessman who helped establish the right-wing One Nation party in 1997, said he spent 15 minutes chatting with Mr Palmer in the weeks after the September 2013 poll.