Media release
Palmer to challenge Labor/ Liberal legislation in High Court of Australia
CANBERRA – With 350,000 Australians homeless and nearly eight million households restricting the adults in the family to one meal a day, Clive Palmer announced today that he would take action to protect and defend the rights of all Australians.
Mr Palmer will mount a High Court challenge to the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 2025, over concerns that the changes to election fund laws will limit the ability of members of parliament and those who seek to challenge them to communicate, entrenching Labor governments forever and making those who rule us unaccountable.
"Both the Labor and Liberal parties have designed legislation to entrench themselves and silence the competition,'' Mr Palmer said.
"This is nothing more than an incumbency protection scheme to limit the number of alternative voices in Australian politics.
"Both parties are aware of the threat of competition, which will expose their weaknesses and demonstrate how hopeless they are.
"It is time that this challenge is heard in the High Court for a true and fair democracy in this country,'' Mr Palmer said.
Under the Act the Liberal and Labor parties will start out with 41 million dollars of taxpayer funds to fight off those who would question their competence.
Mr Palmer said Australians were crying out for common sense policies and proactive politics that could improve their standard of living.
"Australians are sick of hearing about increased spending on defence or climate change, or increased immigration or a new NRL team in PNG,'' Mr Palmer said.
"Right now, our infrastructure is broken and our hospitals and schools are in decline, yet the Labor Party introduces one million immigrants every year to take Australian jobs and destroy Australians opportunity. We need an immigration policy which only allows for family reunions.
"Australians want to focus on what really matters. For this to happen we need fair elections where any party running can highlight policies that benefit all.
"Election spending is vital so ideas can be introduced and people can make fair and proper decisions about their future government,'' he said.
United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet said he was being restricted in his abilities to communicate policies with all Australians on important matters like immigration.
"To write to every Australian via Australia Post would cost in the vicinity of $15 million to properly inform the electorate I like to correspond with.
"All political parties need to be able to communicate so they can fully inform the voting public. With this new legislation, freedom of speech is taken away,'' Senator Babet said.
"The strict new caps make it nearly impossible for new independent voices and smaller parties to fund the grassroots campaigns needed to challenge the status quo.
"We don't have access to the thousands of PR people that the Liberals and Labor have. In fact, we have had our staff numbers cut again in a further attempt to stamp out competition.
Mr Babet said the proposed new laws also came with a staggering price tag for the public.
"Taxpayers will be forced to tip in millions of taxpayer dollars into the coffers of political participants every election cycle, with an estimated 75% of that windfall flowing directly to the major parties.
"Recent polling shows that over 70% of Australians oppose such increases,'' he said.
Mr Palmer said the High Court challenge would be lodged within 90 days and that he was confident of success.
"No government can legislate to stop its opponents from raising funds to fund communication of their political ideas to the Australian people while at the same time raiding the public purse for their own benefit."
