Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson Clash Over Failed Party Merger

Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson hurled insults after their party's bid to merge failed because of disputes over who should lead and fund their hoped-for singular right-wing populist movement.

Concerned that a swathe of "Australia First"-style groups and people would cannibalize each other's supporters in the future election, Mr Palmer said on Wednesday that he will run on a Donald Trump-style platform.

Mr Palmer's party will now operate under the name Trumpet of Patriots.

The billionaire announced the new identity, which was adopted after he failed in a legal quest to re-register the United Australia Party, following negotiations with One Nation about forming a single movement.

Those conversations are said to have collapsed when Mr Palmer and One Nation accused each other of attempting to dominate the prospective party.

Senator Hanson insisted on becoming the new movement's "president for life," which Mr Palmer indicated would be impossible.

"I answered, 'Well, you can't be president for life. "Not even I can be president for life," he declared during a press conference in Canberra on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Senator Hanson told ABC that Mr Palmer made an offer but that "One Nation is not for sale."

Unification Effort Rises as Populist Leaders Enter Their 70s

The failed unification attempt comes as some of Australia's best-known populist stalwarts near the end of their already lengthy parliamentary careers.

Mr Palmer, Senator Hanson, and Queensland independent Bob Katter are well-known political figures with more than a century of public service between them.

Mr Palmer and Senator Hanson are both 70 years old, while Mr. Katter is 79. Their prolonged domination of what remains a limited political scene — all have built careers by appealing to dissatisfied Coalition and right-wing Labor voters — appears to have hampered younger individuals' ability to emerge from their shadows.

Their failure to coalesce raises new concerns about the far right's influence in the approaching election, particularly as Donald Trump's return to the White House reignites enthusiasm for hypernationalistic nativist political personalities.

"The entry of Clive Palmer's new party will further fragment the centre-right minor party vote at the upcoming federal election," said Family First national director Lyle Shelton, who branded the move as "regrettable".

In 2022, Mr Palmer spent more than $120 million on election campaign materials but only won one Senate seat for his now-deregistered United Australia Party.

Despite contesting practically every lower house seat in the recent election, One Nation only held two Senate seats, including Senator Hanson's, which was nearly lost to the Legalise Cannabis Australia party.

Despite the poor results, both Mr Palmer and Senator Hanson's preferences are regarded as critical in close races.

Senator Hanson stated last week that she approached former National Party leader Barnaby Joyce about joining One Nation. Mr Joyce rejected the offer.

With suspicion mounting that neither Labor nor the Coalition would gain a majority in the upcoming election, Mr Katter could become one of several kingmakers in the next government.

Mark Kenny, Director of the Australian Studies Institute at the Australian National University, stated that many of today's leading populists are "in the final stages of their careers."

While the resurgence of Trumpism in the United States should be a watershed moment for Mr Palmer and Senator Hanson, they are battling to get above being minor characters.

"No matter what happens, whether there's an atmospheric change of the kind we're seeing, or there isn't one, they don't get a bigger stake in the game because sentiment has gone rightward and populist unless they find a way to get themselves dealt into the game," Mr. Kenny said.

"None of these people have particularly long futures ahead in politics and there may be an element of needing to make a big play now because it'll all be over soon."