Mining magnate and former federal MP Clive Palmer yesterday announced his resignation from politics and disbanded his political party – the Palmer United Party (PUP).
A statement released by PUP said “current political conditions were different from 2013 when the party was formed to oppose carbon and mining taxes”.
“I would like to thank the members and thousands of Australians in every state of the Commonwealth who have supported the party and its candidates during the last four years,” Mr Palmer said.
Mr Palmer, who became famous for his stunts in and out of parliament, rose to prominence quickly during the 2013 Federal election, winning the Federal seat of Fairfax, becoming the fifth largest political party in the country and holding the balance of power in the Senate with PUP members Jacquie Lambie, Glenn Lazarus and Dio Wang elected.
Things quickly disintegrated however, with his senators falling out with Mr Palmer and leaving the party. Things deteriorated further after the last Federal Election, when Senator Dio Wang failed to retain his spot and the party received less than 500 first preference votes at the ballot box.
Mr Palmer was regularly absent from Parliament and when he was present he was dogged by questions about his mining business. He chose not to re-contest his seat at the 2016 election.
Some of Mr Palmer’s more famous stunts included claiming he would build a life-size replica of the Titanic when announcing his decision to contest the 2013 Federal Election and ‘twerking’ during a radio interview.
In more recent times Mr Palmer has taken to uploading videos where he repeatedly says good-bye to political rivals. As yet, no politician has posted a YouTube video saying good-bye to Mr Palmer.
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