Clive Palmer has been ubiquitous on Australian screens over the last few weeks but the latest Roy Morgan poll shows palmer’s 2019 advertising blitz has failed to convince Aussies to give the former Fairfax MP another go in federal politics.
The poll was conducted with 1,673 electors over the last fortnight and reveals Palmer’s newly branded United Australia Party (UAP) is attracting only one per cent of the vote, trailing fellow QLD-based party One Nation (three per cent).
The ALP leads over the L-NP at 36 per cent to 34.5 per cent on primary votes.
Last year, Palmer announced to Australia he would have another go at politics by launching the United Australia Party, with plans to run a candidate in every seat and to contest the QLD seat of Herbert.
Political advertising guru and Labor campaign strategist Dee Madigan told news.com.au: “I don’t think he’s got a hope in hell”.
Madigan continued: “His name recognition is high but he’s disliked”.
From a campaign strategy perspective, Madigan said the advertising strategy for the UAP was strange.
She said: “He’s running ads in areas where I don’t think he’ll field candidates, but even if he did, they wouldn’t have a hope in hell of winning”.
Palmer has been bombarding Aussies with ads across a range of mediums, from TV to mobile, tablet to computer.
Last week, several million Australian mobile phones received text messages from Palmer with political messaging for his party.
It is understood the campaign prompted thousands of complaints.
However, the Australian Communication and Media Authority said the messages complied with laws and political messaging is exempt from rules.
Palmer would not apologise for his advertising tactics, telling reporters: “We’ll be running text messages as we get closer to the election because it’s a way of stimulating debate in our democracy”.
Various ads for the UAP have also appeared across print and radio, with many billboards featuring Palmer’s face and tagline “Make Australia Great”.
Palmer’s political career was short-lived between 2013 and 2016 as the member for Fairfax, under his previous party – the Palmer United Party.
