The political party started by Australian mining millionaire Clive Palmer has been significantly weakened after the abrupt resignation of its Senate leader, Glenn Lazarus.

Lazarus announced his decision to turn independent in a statement issued shortly after midnight on Friday, leaving the Palmer United party (PUP) with just one senator, Dio Wang. It follows the departure of Jacqui Lambie in November last year.

“This was a difficult decision,” said Lazarus, a former rugby league star.

“I have a different view of teamwork. Given this, I felt it best that I resign from the party and pursue my Senate role as an independent senator.”

The PUP’s national director, Peter Burke, revealed that the upheaval followed the party’s decision on Thursday to send a letter to Lazarus’s wife, Tess, terminating her employment from the party.

“This was done primarily because she failed to comply with the terms of her employment. Senator Lazarus’s resignation followed thereafter, with the reason being self-evident,” Burke said in a statement on Friday.

Tess Lazarus ran as a PUP candidate in the Queensland state election in January and she issues media releases on behalf of Glenn Lazarus.

Burke did not provide any other deals about the circumstances that led to the sacking, but stood by the decision: “The party made the correct decision in terminating Tess Lazarus’s employment. It is disappointing that politicians put their personal interests above those who elect them.”

The fracturing of the original three-member PUP Senate bloc has implications for the Coalition’s legislative agenda, with Palmer personally losing significant sway over the outcome. PUP also had a short-lived voting alliance with a fourth crossbench senator, Ricky Muir of the Motoring Enthusiast party.



The government needs the support of six of the eight crossbench senators to pass contentious legislation that is opposed by Labor and the Greens. The government will have to negotiate with each of the original PUP senators separately.



Lazarus, who was elected as a senator for Queensland under the PUP banner at the 2013 election, began his six-year term in the upper house in July 2014.

He said he was “deeply grateful to Clive Palmer for the opportunity to be involved in the party” and “sincerely wishes Clive and his family all the very best for the future”.

“I will miss working with my esteemed colleague Senator Dio Wang,” Lazarus said.

“I am determined to do my best in representing, and being a voice for, the people of Queensland in the Australian Senate.”

Glenn Lazarus was told by broadcaster Alan Jones that he was ‘bullied’. Link to video

Burke pointedly said that Lazarus’s statement of reasons “were not related to political matters or to the duty he had to promote the party policy and to support its platform, its membership and the thousands of Queenslanders who trusted him to stay strong to these values having elected him to the Senate”.

“Regardless of the individual demands within the party, the Palmer United party will stay true to its beliefs,” Burke said.

Comment was being sought from Palmer.

The implications for particular bills the government wants to pass are not yet clear. Lazarus was an outspoken opponent of the government’s bill to deregulate university fees, and the PUP position was to vote against the bill.

Wang, however, had publicly signalled his openness to deregulation. Even if Wang now decided to support a compromise, the government would still need to muster adequate support from other crossbench senators.

The announcement comes as parliament prepares to sit for the next two weeks in the final session before the May budget.





























