Mining magnate Clive Palmer. Credit:Glenn Hunt He would call his new body the United Australia Party, reviving the name of the party his father belonged to. As it happens, his nephew owns the trademark to the name. Mr Palmer said he didn’t have a hand in the resignations of Alex Douglas and Carl Judge from the LNP on Thursday afternoon, despite lunching with them just an hour earlier. He has also made no approaches to unite with Katter’s Australian Party.

Mr Palmer is confident, however, he would have the numbers to set up a United Australia Party, which he would not be limited to Queensland. It would could target the next election as he believes the community is ready for a new party. He said voters were ‘‘disgusted’’ at the Newman government’s behaviour. ‘‘What we’re seeing in the electorate is a great amount of concern for the civil liberties of Queenslanders and their right to be able to express their point of view,’’ he said. Mr Palmer said he wouldn’t get rid of his business interests if he set up a party, but either way he’s not interested in becoming premier.

‘‘I’m a reluctant warrior, I don’t really want to get involved in politics,’’ he said. ‘‘I think I’m too fat to be premier, you want to have a nice tanned guy as premier to promote the tourist industry.’’ It was the mining magnate's second press conference today. Earlier, Mr Palmer claimed senior members of the Newman government have been conspiring to put him behind bars and confiscate his assets. Mr Palmer told reporters during a three-minute news conference in Brisbane senior people in the public service and lobby groups had been working to shut him up and ensure he was not a "political problem".

"People in the government and senior figures in the public service were conspiring to put me in jail, and to confiscate all the assets that I have," he said. Mr Palmer claimed ‘‘substantial evidence’’ had come to light since he first learnt of the plan three weeks ago, but he said he would not make it public. ‘‘I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that there’s no doubt that this is true,’’ he said. ‘‘Some of the logic was that it’s important we shut Clive Palmer up, that he’s not a member of Parliament, he doesn’t have commercial interest in Queensland which will be effective and we’ve got to do something to make sure he’s not a political problem so we can go forward with our agenda. ‘‘That was the rationale behind these things by senior people within the public service, within the lobbyist group and these are matters of the greatest concern to me, my family and children.’’

Mr Palmer also lashed out at LNP Leader of the House Ray Stevens, calling him a liar, who would never again be elected to Parliament, following the controversy involving dumped ethics committee chair MP Alex Douglas. Mr Palmer, who said he would not release evidence of the government’s plans, refused to take questions. His claims serve to further escalate Mr Palmer’s ongoing public war with his former party. Mr Palmer sensationally quit his LNP membership, just hours after being reinstated following a suspension last week. But the billionaire continues to publicly criticise the LNP’s parliamentary wing, accusing it of governing without regard to party policy.

Federal MP Bob Katter has previously indicated he would be open to the idea, after he and the mining billionaire resolved a dispute about the flying in of foreign workers to Australian mines. Earlier this year, Mr Palmer, who is known for his wild and spontaneous pronouncements, launched an extraordinary attack on the Greens and environmentalists, alleging they were being funded by the US Central Intelligence Agency to undermine Australia’s national economy. Loading But he later told media he made the outlandish claims in order to distract negative attention away from the LNP during the Queensland election campaign. - with Marissa Calligeros