Contracts that commit UAP candidates to reimbursing advertising budget designed to avoid repeat of the ‘Jacqui Lambie problem’

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Clive Palmer’s United Australia party has taken extraordinary steps to avoid a repeat of the “Jacqui Lambie problem” by getting candidates to sign contracts that require them to return $400,000 in election support if they win a seat but subsequently leave the party.

Jacqui Lambie won a Tasmanian Senate seat as a candidate for Palmer United party in 2013, but after a year resigned and set up the Jacqui Lambie Network. The former rugby league star Glenn Lazarus was also elected to the Senate as a Palmer United party candidate in 2013. He quit the party in 2015 over differences with Palmer and started the Glenn Lazarus Team party.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gone but not forgotten: Clive Palmer (left) with former Palmer United party senators Dio Wang, Jacqui Lambie and Glenn Lazarus (far right) in October 2013. Photograph: Paul Miller/AAP

Guardian Australia has spoken to numerous UAP candidates about the contracts. The candidates confirmed they had signed the agreements which commit to them reimbursing their share of UAP’s extensive advertising budget (said to be between $30 and $50m) that billionaire Palmer is deploying to support his United Australia party.

Candidates said they had received “tremendous support”, including corflutes, Facebook pages, mobile phones, T-shirts, caps and how-to-vote cards as well as the benefit of a national advertising campaign which has so far mainly included posters, but will soon include a national television advertising campaign.

Several candidates said each candidate would be up for around $400,000 in expenditure, but they stressed they thought it was entirely appropriate to sign the agreements as they were being supported by the UAP.

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Electoral law expert Professor Graeme Orr from the Queensland of University law school said upfront payments would raise electoral law issues as they could amount to selling candidatures, but payments after the fact were different.

“Instead, it raises questions of enforceability,” Orr said. “Contract damages have to be compensatory, rather than a penalty. There might also be questions of public policy.

“The independence of an MP is protected by parliamentary law, so it is arguable that a court would treat such an agreement as non-binding.”

Mike Bloomfield, an IT executive who is running in Wentworth for UAP, said the agreements were important “so people know that the candidate can’t just run away once they are elected”.

“We are the only party with a bit of an anchor in it. It will give people just a bit more loyalty to the party,” he said.

Bloomfield, who describes himself as a friend of Palmer, is no stranger to small parties. He ran as a federal candidate in Warringah in 2013 for Rise Up Australia, a rightwing party founded by Pentecostal minister Danny Nalliah in 2013.

Ignatius Tsiriplis, who is running in Werriwa, said it was important to be loyal. “You have to have loyalty given what other people are doing for you.”

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He praised Palmer’s support for his candidates, which included flying them at Palmer’s expense to his resort at Coolum for a three-day workshop. There they were trained in dealing with the media, taught how to campaign, and explained UAP policies while making advertisements for their Facebook pages.

Candidates also filmed scripted, word-for-word videos decrying the foreign ownership of Australian ports, and linking it to “border security” and stopping “leaky boats”.

“Border security is more than stopping a couple of leaky boats. It is about protecting and defending our country from invasion by selling our ports, farms, houses and lifestyle,” the candidates all said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest United Australia party candidates for the Australian 2019 federal election. Photograph: George Sokolov/United Austrlalia party/Facebook

The candidates’ scripted statements are in line with Palmer’s views on foreign port ownership. Palmer has consistently railed against the behaviour of Chinese firms at Australian ports, particularly attacking China’s biggest conglomerate CITIC, which has been at war with Palmer’s businesses on various fronts.

Guardian Australia has found dozens of the videos on Facebook, where the UAP is paying to push them to users as advertisements.

Many of the UAP members can be seen squinting or stumbling over words as they recite the script. Palmer is running candidates in every lower-house seat in the country, and most have been set up with their own Facebook page.

That has created a vast network of Facebook pages, many of which are pushing the scripted videos into the feeds of targeted groups of users.

It is not suggested the contracts compel the UAP candidates to make the videos.

Tony Pettitt, a truck driver who is running in Macquarie, which covers the Hawkesbury and the Blue Mountains, also considered the agreements a wise move by Palmer. “It only kicks in if you are elected,” he said, adding that Palmer had had “a whole movie studio set-up at Coolum” to make advertisements with his candidates.

Pettitt’s political history spans a wide range of right-leaning parties. At the 2004 federal election Pettitt ran for One Nation, then as an independent in 2007, then for Jim Saleam’s far-right party Australia First in 2013. He ran as a councillor on Hawkesbury council for David Leyonhjelm’s Liberal Democrats in 2017 before signing up with UAP for this election.

Palmer’s strategy seems to be borrowed from Donald Trump’s playbook. Even his slogan, “Help us make Australia great”, is similar to Trump’s 2016 catchcry.

Trump got into the public’s mind as a potential presidential candidate when he launched an exploratory committee in the lead-up to the 2000 election. He ultimately pulled out, but was often discussed as a possible contender. He then ran in earnest in 2016, winning the Republican nomination and the presidency, against the odds.

“Palmer’s not so worried about this one but the next,” Pettitt said. “He’ll form government next time around. With all the advertising he’s being doing they will know about the UAP and they will give him a go,” he said.

Bloomfield was even more optimistic. Newspoll put UAP’s support at 5% of the primary vote in late April but Bloomfield said the “mainstream media” are understating UAP’s support.

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“Our polling shows it’s 15-20% as of two weeks ago with 28% undecided. They are the real statistics. I think it’s possible we could form government. Worst-case scenario is we will have the balance of power in both houses,” he predicts.

“Country NSW look out!” he said, predicting that there could be big swings to the UAP.

Bloomfield also expects big wins in Queensland, where One Nation is “on the nose”.

The UAP’s central campaign team did not respond to Guardian Australia’s requests for comment.

Despite the collapse of Queensland Nickel, which left hundreds of workers out of pocket on their entitlements, Palmer’s candidates remain enthusiastic.

“People are hungry for something else; we just need enough airtime to communicate our message,” said Bloomfield.

“We’re planning an $7,800 boost to pensions, tax deductibility for home loans and free university. These are profound policies.

“And we need to get rid of the Murray Darling Basin plan, move to a Bradfield solution to get a flow of water through NSW and Queensland. Once we make our land fertile and rich with water, people will see how wealthy we can be as a nation.”

As for Palmer, the candidates describe his as “ humble”, motivated only by “doing good for Australia”.