CLIVE Palmer is not surprised by reports of electronic spying by clandestine agencies.

The Federal Member for Fairfax believes his phone lines have been tapped for years.

Mr Palmer made the comment at his Coolum resort yesterday when he gave reporters a rundown on the progress he has made during his first fortnight as an MP.

But the press conference soon ran off the rails as the Fairfax MP made a series of outlandish remarks and fended off criticism of his parliamentary conduct.

Early in the press conference speech, he said his phone had been tapped for years.

He implored Prime Minister Tony Abbott to apologise to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over the international phone-tapping scandal.

He defended his absence from Parliament during its final two sitting days, saying he had to visit Perth to attend to his party's challenge of the West Australian senate election. He said he was better off at his electorate office looking after his constituents.

He gave journalists a guided tour of his soon-to-open dinosaur park and revealed he would name one of the prehistoric creatures after Campbell Newman.

Oh, and he was building 100 miniature remote-controlled Titanics which children would be able to drive on the lake beside the first tee.

Local residents must be questioning whether he will be an effective local member and was committed to serving the people - rather than just pushing his personal interests and sticking a spoke in the wheels of the LNP.

But there were moments of substance yesterday which would have given heart to residents hoping for the former. He said he had officially buried the hatchet with Mal Brough, member for the neighbouring electorate of Fisher, and had agreed to drop his defamation law suit against the former Howard-era minister.

Under the terms of the peace agreement, both sides will pay their own legal costs and Mr Palmer said he was committed to working side-by-side.

Mr Palmer said he had met about 30 constituents yesterday and was getting on with serving the community.