Clive Palmer has launched his latest salvo to the Queensland government, warning he is preparing for the next state election and sees no reason his party won't play a big role in its outcome.
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The Fairfax MP, once one of the LNP's biggest supporters, fell out with the government in November 2012.
Following Mr Palmer's meteoric rise as a political force, Premier Campbell Newman broke his silence on the reasons for the fall out, saying Mr Palmer had demanded preferential treatment, which the government refused.
Mr Palmer said the Queensland branch of his party was working through “about 60 expressions of interest” from potential candidates and was preparing for the next election, which he expected Palmer United to be influential in.
“All I will say is that Tony Abbott was only prime minister because he got our preferences,” Mr Palmer said.
“If he didn't get those preferences, he wouldn't be prime minister and I think our party in the short period we have been going...has done extremely well.
“In September last year, we got a 5 per cent vote in Western Australia, at the last election, just recently, we got a 12.5 per cent vote, so our vote went up by two and a half times.
“In the Queensland context, we got around 11 to 12 per cent in Queensland, so if our vote went up 2.5 times in Queensland, we'd be up around 30 per cent.”
Mr Palmer again ruled out a merge with Katter's Australian Party, which was floated and then slapped down within hours of being made public last month, saying he believed KAP was too far to the right for it to work.
“We don't plan to merge with the Katter party, despite the fact I am sure you'll get another press release in the next four weeks that we are, let me say save your time ringing, we're not,” he said.
“The reason we are not merging with the Katter Party is we are not as to the right as far as they are, we are more of a middle party I think.
“We are getting support from both major parties, and we have different policies and we don't agree on exactly the same things.”
He reiterated his party's promise to resume any assets sold by the government “without compensation”.
“So anyone who is game enough to buy Queensland assets, go ahead, and if Campbell Newman loses the next election, those assets, those schools and hospitals, will come back to the government free of charge and we will thank you for the donation.”
