I watched the media and Twitter this morning having a good laugh
about Clive Palmer forming his own party, United Australia Party
(UAP). All sorts of condescending comments, “You can’t
buy a Government Clive”, "Clive Palmer running for
office, “Clive Palmer couldn't run if you set his arse on
fire!", and of course all the obligatory ‘dinosaur’
jokes... Not to forget that every article online
& on TV is always prefaced with “Ex LNP donor,
billionaire Clive Palmer...” Funny how we don’t preface
others as such, though that is a rant for another day
maybe?
Anyhow... The joke may be on the media and other politicians
trashing Clive setting up his party.
I don’t know exactly why Clive is setting up a political
party. I don’t really know what the real fight with the LNP
was about. I know we were told it was the Qld Govt
overstating how big the Qld debt was and the mass sackings that
resulted from that. He did put his money where his mouth
was too, "Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer
donates $250,000 to public sector union Together Queensland to
assist sacked public servants". Now, for a man that has
given millions to the LNP over the years and was a life member,
that was a big call to quit & give funds to the dreaded
Unions?
I also know that Mr Palmer, regardless of the buffoon persona, is
no dimwit. Unlike most high profile people, he will happily
take a public hit or loss for the sake of getting the bigger
win. His very public fight with Hyatt Coolum is only one
example of this. Clive wanted the resort, just didn’t want
Hyatt managing it, they had a contract in place, Clive tried to
terminate it, he fought it, he lost... Everyone smirked,
many getting a vicarious pleasure from Clive supposedly not
getting his own way with the supreme court, having to do a
private deal with Hyatt. But, Clive didn't really lose the
case at all “Clive Palmer's Coolum resort to stay
open but without Hyatt managing it”. To terminate a
Management agreement is a nightmare, I reckon Clive knew he would
lose the court proceedings, but, Hyatt would have to show their
books etc. in Court, therefore Clive actually did get what he
wanted, a true idea of the standing of the business at the Hyatt,
plus of course ammo from the books to do a confidential deal with
Hyatt that got them out of his way. He did similar with his
‘failed’ Gold Coast Soccer team. Not sure why he changed
his mind on it, but making the Association sack him by what he
said publicly, resulted in him basically getting out of the
venture scot-free and not having to pay the rest of the licensing
etc...
Now how many people do you know will take a public loss and hit
to their ego like that? And on more than one
occasion? I personally think Clive is a very smart man, he
sits back at the end of the day, lets the media & others have
their jokes, but he always comes out the winner, yet doesn’t brag
about the win, as while everyone underestimates him or jokes, he
is quietly getting exactly what he wants and for the price he
wants to pay? I also find it very odd that the ‘human
billboard’ as some like to call him, making fun of his press
conferences, is so well known, so high profile, yet his personal
life is rather a mystery? So, who is playing who in that
profile game? Think about it?
A few people I know have done for work for him, one in particular
on a regular basis, and, his summation of Clive is that he is a
really “decent bloke”. Now I trust my friends
judgement, he has a pretty good bullshit radar, he reckons Clive
can tell a yarn as well as the next man, but is cunning like a
fox. Contrary to popular belief, he also treats his staff
very well, generally, even the lowest paid working for him is
valued, so again, that does not exactly fit into the bully
billionaire scenario that many in the media like to
promote? Why has no-one from his many staff rolled on
him? There would have been thousands, surely there would be
great stories for the papers & magazines to buy from
them?
I could give other examples of why I don’t think we should be
treating Mr Palmer’s run at politics as a joke, though feel his
most recent example is a great one where he is setting others up
for the dump... Now I am sure Mr Palmer really does despise
Lobbyists, hell, most of us do, though Mr Palmer has focused very
heavily on them in his initial press conference yesterday &
again last night in his ABC interview. Sooooo off everyone
runs, laughing about a ‘Clive Party’... Next day, Clive has
another presser, says he is standing for Fairfax on the Sunshine
Coast. The jokes get funnier, more dinosaurs are mentioned,
more people laugh...
But again is Clive thinking ahead. It is assumed that Ted
O’Brien who is the LNP candidate heir apparent in this very safe
conservative seat and I suppose it is a fair call for the LNP to
assume that since Mr Somylay has anointed Mr O’Brien his
successor it is a shoe-in. Shame a few journo’s in
the recent press conference had not done a little bit of
research, Fairfax was one of the obvious choices for Mr Palmer,
so a little peek at Ted O’Brien would have been a good
idea. I say this because Mr O’Brien was with conservative
lobbying firm Barton Deakin after ten years with global
consulting firm Accenture. Who cares you say? Well,
considering the dodgy situation the LNP are finding themselves in
Qld with many sick of corporates sticking their finger in the
Government pie, I am sure Clive is going to love pointing out
that Mr O’Brien whilst at Barton Deakin was one of the lucky 13
at the now famous “Ros Bates ‘pre-lobby’ lunch”.
Let’s see, Mr Palmer has set up his anti-Lobby stance, his
anti-QLDLNP jobs for mates ‘heartless’ stance, and Voila!
Guess what, his opposition in Fairfax ticks all those boxes with
the bonus tick of being associated with the rather toxic Ms
Bates, lovely trifecta...
I'll be contesting Fairfax at September 14 federal election and aim to be Australia's next prime minister #auspol twitter.com/CliveFPalmer/s…
— Prof Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) April 26, 2013
Mr Palmer is actually a very generous man who has helped a lot of
charities, usually on the condition they keep their mouths shut,
so this could actually be a civic move on his part, he could
actually be doing what he says, giving the public a voting
choice, trying to instill more democracy in our system? Mr
Palmer could also be laying out a very elaborate smoke-screen
with a very different agenda in mind? He could be trying to
put the LNP back in their place? He could just have an axe
to grind with particular Lobby Firms? He may be getting
revenge on Qld LNP by hurting Campbell best bud Tony Abbott? For
all we know he had a dream as a kid that one day he would be
Prime Minister? Who would know... Hell, he could just be
bored? I have no idea what his end game is... BUT
Clive Palmer did learn all he knows politically under the
leadership of Joh Bjelke-Petersen, he is still a Joh man
today, so what I do know, is that experience shows if you dig a
bit deeper under the flamboyant persona, outlandish press
conferences and bold statements, there is ALWAYS an END GAME.
Sooooo grab some popcorn, sit back and be entertained, this
Federal election just got a whole lot more interesting :)
Cheers
Noely @YaThinkN
Bit of background:
Lateline: Palmer to contest election with new
political party
Watch out - it's Cliversauras
Max
Our PM? Clive Palmer to run in Fairfax
as new party leader
Palmer's party a 'welcome' addition to
political landscape
O’Brien wins LNP preselection for
Fairfax
Minister Bates rejects new lobby
claim
Clive Palmer tells Australia he plans to
be prime minister - but United Australia Party name isn't
registered
