Sunday 22 May 2022 08:58 AM Billionaire Clive Palmer's United Australia Party wins no seats despite costly ... trends now
Billionaire Clive Palmer's United Australia Party failed to win any seats in the House of Representatives despite an almost $100 million six-month election campaign.
The mining magnate's advertising blitz proved fruitless on Saturday as his far-right political group fizzled with a national primary vote of just 4.3% and Liberal-defector-turned-UAP -leader Craig Kelly was ousted from his seat of Hughes.
Palmer ran UAP candidates in all lower house seats this year and had touted Mr Kelly as the future prime minister of Australia during his party's campaign.
The disastrous results are a far cry from predictions, with experts fearing Palmer's exorbitant advertising spend would threaten democracy by giving him a massive upper hand to beat both major parties.
Clive Palmer's United Australia Party has suffered a crushing defeat, picking up no seats in the House of Representatives
In another blow, the UAP's star candidate, Mr Kelly, suffered a landslide defeat from Liberal Jenny Ware, who won with a two candidate preferred vote of 56.86% compared to his 7.6%.
The trend was also displayed across other far-right groups, including Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Great Australian Party, and the Informed Medical Options Party.
Mr Kelly had held the seat of Hughes as a Liberal since 2010 before quitting in February 2021 after clashing with the LNP over its response to the Covid pandemic.
He carved a controversial figure throughout that time, causing outrage among MPs after spouting unfounded Covid-19 claims and vaccine misinformation in contradiction of medical advice.
The mining magnate's campaign cost almost $100million and centred on the tenets of the 'freedom' movement
His endorsement of unproven drugs to
