Australian Billionaire Launches Political Party Inspired By Trump—Here’s What To Know

Topline

An Australian billionaire who launched a rebranded political party “heavily inspired” by President Donald Trump claimed 10,000 people signed up to join his “Trumpet of Patriots” party on its first day in support of proposals including government spending cuts and federally recognizing only two genders.

Key Facts

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Surprising Fact

The logo for the Trumpet of Patriots—a golden lion in front of an Australian flag emblazoned with the Latin words “honor omnia”—has a Latin translation problem, The Guardian reported. The logo translates the Latin to read "honour above all" but, according to a Latin professor, those words don't translate to a phrase but instead the separate words "honour" and "everything."

Key Background

Palmer was a member of the Australian parliament from 2013 to 2016 and has been a large donor to various national campaigns. He founded the United Australia Party in 2018 and campaigned for bans on lockdowns and vaccine mandates amid the Covid pandemic. The party was voluntarily deregistered in 2022, making it ineligible to re-register within the same electoral cycle. Palmer took a bid to do so to the High Court but lost, leading him to join the fringe Trumpet of Patriots group and relaunch it into the mainstream. Palmer, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in past elections, said he is "more than happy to spend my funds defending the right of free speech, and whatever is required to be spent will be spent."

Big Number

82,000. That's how many members of the United Australia Party could switch allegiances to the Trumpet of Patriots for the upcoming election.

Crucial Quote

“The Australian people deserve real representation, and we will ensure they have that choice at the polls,” Palmer said.

Forbes Valuation

Palmer, 70, is worth an estimated $3.4 billion as of Thursday. He is tied as the 16th-richest person in Australia. Palmer started Mineralogy, an Australian mining company, in 1984 and now has a portfolio that includes Waratah Coal and Queensland Nickel. He is also a real estate investor. Socially, he is perhaps best known for his decade-long attempt to build a replica of the famed Titanic cruise liner to carry passengers around the world in "style and luxury." Palmer first announced plans for the Titanic II project in 2012, but it was called off in 2015 amid financial strain. Three years later, Titanic II was relaunched but called off again, a move Palmer this week blamed on the pandemic and cruise industry shutdowns. Last year, he relaunched the plan for the Titanic II for the third time and the ship is scheduled to set sail in June 2027.

Tangent

As Palmer launched his new political party, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull warned Australia can no longer assume it can "rely on America" under Trump. He referenced Trump's efforts to "bully Denmark or Canada or other countries" and said Trump was both factually and morally wrong in his recent comments about the Ukraine-Russian war, in which he blamed Ukraine for the conflict that began with an invasion by Russia. "We have to recognise the world has changed, America has changed,” Turnbull said. “And we cannot assume that we can rely on America in the way we have in the past.”

Further Reading

ForbesWhat Is The Titanic II? Billionaire Clive Palmer Revives Plan For Replica ShipBy Mary Whitfill RoeloffsForbesTrump-Zelensky Feud: Trump Calls Zelensky A ‘Dictator’—After Ukraine’s President Criticizes Him Amid Russia TalksBy Mary Whitfill Roeloffs