Media release
Member for Fairfax and Palmer United Party federal leader, Clive Palmer, said Nick Xenophon is still bitter that he failed to get any Senator other than himself elected to the Senate at the last federal election.
Mr Palmer said if the proposed Senate election reforms that Nick Xenophon supports applied, then he never would have been elected to public office at all.
“Nick Xenophon and Mal Brough are seeking to rig the next Senate election for their own political purposes,” Mr Palmer said.
“Democracy in Australia is too important to allow political parties to destroy our voting system.
“Since Australia’s federation in 1901 our democracy has allowed the people to choose who should represent them and we don’t want politicians to be able to interfere with the ballots or tell us what voters are meant to do.
Mr Palmer said it is up to Australians to freely exercise their right to vote however they choose.
“Just because Nick Xenophon doesn’t like the outcome of an election, he does not have the right to change the system which has been responsible for the society and freedoms we now enjoy in Australia,” he said.
“Palmer United Party senators were elected in Queensland with more than 11 per cent of the vote and in Western Australia with 12.3 per cent of the primary vote.
“Mal Brough and Nick Xenophon’s attempts to rig the next election will fail the 30 per cent of Australians who don’t vote for Liberal or Labor.
“This percentage of Australians deserves to have their voices heard and their choices must be left to them. If we destroy democracy in Australia, our society and our foundation as a nation will be undermined.”
Ends