Billionaire Clive Palmer receives nearly $2 million from taxpayers after winning just ONE seat in the federal election
Clive Palmer’s United Australia party has received nearly $2 million from the AEC
The mining billionaire won just one Senate seat in May’s federal election
Mr. Palmer ran a candidate for every seat and spent $70 million on advertising
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Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has received $2 million in tax dollars from the Australian Electoral Commission after winning a single seat in the federal election.
The AEC revealed that $75 million in taxpayers’ money has been returned to political parties and candidates following May’s elections on Wednesday.
Parties and candidates receive $10,656 if they receive at least 4 percent of the election’s first preference votes. They will then be reimbursed for extra expenses.
Mr Palmer’s party, the United Australia Party, received a total of $1,925,262 after the 2022 election.
Mining billionaire Clive Palmer’s party, the United Australia Party, has received nearly $2 million in taxpayers’ money from the Australian Electoral Commission
His payout from the AEC was more than three times what he received after the 2019 election, at $650,382.
The mining billionaire’s election campaign was deemed a failure after he pushed for a candidate in every electorate across the country.
He splashed more than $70 million in advertising for his election campaign.
This included money spent on billboards, ads on multiple TV stations, and $10 million for ads on YouTube.
Despite the massive spending, the UAP won just one Senate seat in Victoria for the 2022 election – one more than it won in 2019.
Mr Palmer alleged electoral fraud on election day after the results came in, claiming AEC staff deliberately tampered with ballots.
He claimed that agents had “lost or stolen five ballot boxes” and wanted to “rig elections,” which the AEC refuted.
Mr Palmer’s party was voluntarily deregistered in September, with sole UAP Senator Ralph Babet telling the media the decision was made for “administrative reasons”.
Mr Palmer spent $70 million on advertising for his election campaign and ran for office in every electorate, but only managed to win one seat
The two major parties received most of the public funds, with Labor receiving $27,104,944 and the Liberal Party receiving $26,550,112.
The Greens received $10,760,539, the Nationals received $3,472,045, and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation received $3,003,118.
Of the total money disbursed by the AEC, $73 million went to political parties and the remaining $1.8 million went to independents.