Motoring Enthusiasts Party senator-elect Ricky Muir stumbles in TV interview

Updated

Incoming Motoring Enthusiasts Party senator Ricky Muir has been shown repeatedly hesitating and becoming flustered while trying to answer questions in a TV interview.

Mr Muir starts a six-year Senate term in July, where he will hold a key vote as part of a bloc with the three Palmer United Party (PUP) senators.

Asked by Channel Seven's Sunday Night program to define the balance of power, he said: "It's the potential ... if ... say in this case, Labor and Greens ... it's the power to vote down legislation in the right circumstances."

Mr Muir was unable to answer a number of questions, including one where he was asked to define the "aftermarket" automobile industry, which he had repeatedly referred to.

"So, there's the aftermarket industry which ... Sorry, can we go to another question?" he said.

Mr Muir, who won his seat after securing just 0.01 per cent of the primary vote, said driver education and road safety would be his priorities when negotiating with the Government.

Motoring Enthusiasts Party secretary Keith Littler said Mr Muir was not used to being bombarded by the media.

"He was just a little bit rattled – [there was] just a little bit of inexperience on his part," he said.

"I don't think there's anything to worry about. I don't think the program showed him up anymore than being an ordinary, everyday Australian."

Mr Littler also said Mr Muir was unable to have an introductory meeting with Prime Minister Tony Abbott because he was "on call" for his job at a sawmill.

"Ricky's been fairly busy. Unlike most people who go into the Senate he doesn't have an unlimited bank balance, he has to work for a living, he's on call," he said.

But he conceded the senator-elect was able to get time off to travel to Boston in the United States on a trip organised by Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer.

"I understand that Tony Abbott perhaps wants to speak to him," he said.

"It's like anybody starting a new job, until such times as you actually take up a new position, you're still committed to the old."

Mr Littler said Mr Muir won his seat "fairly and squarely" and will give it his "best shot".

PUP leader Clive Palmer has criticised the Channel Seven interview and Mr Muir's treatment.

"We're ordinary Australians and all of our senators are not professional politicians," he told 6PR Radio in Perth.

"Ricky Muir works everyday in a sawmill, he's got five kids to support, he's there because people think he's more in contact with the real world."

Topics: minor-parties, political-parties, clive-palmer, government-and-politics, federal-parliament, vic, australia

First posted