Clive Palmer says PUP will contest Queensland election, vows to repeal all Newman legislation

Updated

Clive Palmer says his party will contest the next Queensland state election, and will seek to "obliterate" all laws introduced by the Newman Government.

Mr Palmer is the federal Member for Fairfax and the leader of Palmer United Party (PUP), which is set to hold a powerful position in the Senate come July.

He says if elected in Queensland, PUP would introduce a bill to repeal all legislation introduced under Premier Campbell Newman.

"A bill will be presented to the Queensland Parliament, which will be a simple bill," Mr Palmer said.

"In effect, [the bill] will have a simple provision ... that all legislation passed by the Newman Government shall be repealed forthwith.

"So the message for Queensland is that help is on the way, that we will get there, that we will obliterate from the history records the Newman Government."

Mr Palmer says the PUP will not be contesting the upcoming by-election in Redcliffe and will focus on the 2015 state election.

"We'll be announcing the seats over the coming months where we'll be standing in Queensland. And you'll see some exciting things happening," he said.

The Newman Government has recently come under fire from lawyers, civil rights groups and unions, who have criticised the state's controversial anti-bikie laws.

Mr Palmer is a former donor and life member of the Liberal National Party (LNP).

Late last year he threatened to expose what he called corruption within the State Government.

"My election to Parliament must sound an ominous warning to Campbell Newman and his cohorts," Mr Palmer told 7.30 after being elected to Fairfax.

"The only separation of powers we want is Campbell Newman out of Parliament," he said.

Mr Newman, who had a long-standing policy of not commenting on Mr Palmer, hit back at the claims.

He accused the mining magnate of seeking preferential treatment from the LNP on business projects, including one that proposed using public land on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Mr Palmer's comments come after he announced he had written to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison seeking approval to visit the Christmas Island detention centre.

Mr Palmer says he wants to visit the centre to ensure the children of asylum seekers are not denied a happy childhood.

Topics: states-and-territories, parliament, government-and-politics, australia, qld

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