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The leader of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party has blasted One Nation senator Pauline Hanson for her ‘Claytons” High Court challenge to Queensland’s border closures.

Mr Palmer himself this week lodged documents with the High Court, declaring the similar border closure of Western Australia as unconstitutional which he will be viewing as a test case for pursuing similar action in Queensland.

“My intentions are very clear when it comes to fighting these closures and doing what I can to rebuild jobs and prosperity in Queensland,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“Actions speak louder than words.

“Senator Hanson is crowd funding her campaign and will be lucky to raise enough to pay a QC for one hour.

“She is on a generous $200,000-plus salary per year, on top of numerous other incentives. She should do it offer her own bat.

“Queenslanders deserve better than this meaningless publicity stunt,’’ Mr Palmer said.

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk must act in the best interests of her state and backflip on border closures, Clive Palmer said today.

The leader of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party said Ms Palaszczuk was running faster than a Melbourne Cup favourite as more and more Queenslanders called for an opening of borders to allow the flow of trade and travel from other Australian states.

This week Mr Palmer lodged documents with the High Court, declaring the similar border closure of Western Australia as unconstitutional and said he would be viewing this as a test case for pursuing similar action in Queensland.

“By maintaining a lock down and closed borders, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has condemned nearly a million Queenslanders to financial ruin, unemployment, stress and family break-up,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“There is no time to waste with the winter school holiday break on our doorstep, where an influx of southern visitors could be the saviour for so many Queensland businesses on the brink of closing their doors forever.

“Queenslanders need certainty. Australia’s deputy chief medical officer and leading expert on infectious diseases, Professor Paul Kelly, says it’s safe to open the domestic borders yet Annastacia Palaszczuk thinks she knows better.

“There are no health issues that justify the continued destruction of Queensland. The Premier needs to respond in the best interests of her fellow Queenslanders by reopening the borders immediately,’’ Mr Palmer said.

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Clive Palmer announced today he would be lodging documents with the High Court on Monday, declaring the border closure of Western Australia is unconstitutional.

“There is no time to waste in getting people back to work and building prosperity for the state,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“Closing down the border is not only an act of stupidity by WA Premier Mark McGowan, but it is against the Australian constitution and I am confident the High Court will see it that way as well.”

“The WA Premier needs to act now to ensure a successful future beyond COVID-19 by opening his borders to allow trade and travel from Australian states into WA,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“The WA economy must keep growing and moving forward especially during the COVID-19 downturn. This is crucial for the survival of the domestic economy and for the whole of Australia.

“It is a matter of national importance that the borders be open.”

Mr Palmer said he was hopeful of a directions hearing from the High Court by the end of the week.

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Premier Mark McGowan was denying Western Australians jobs and prosperity by refusing to open the state’s borders to the rest of the country, Clive Palmer said today

“The WA Premier needed to act now to ensure a successful future beyond COVID-19 by opening his borders to allow trade and other movements from Australian states into WA,’’ Mr Palmer said.

As a major investor in WA, Clive Palmer said he was concerned that he was being restricted from markets where he could continue to create jobs and prosperity.

“I have made my intentions clear that I wish to invest heavily in WA with the vast monies earned from my iron ore project in the Pilbara,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“Premier McGowan needs to question where his loyalties lie. He appears more concerned with allowing the free movement of overseas Chinese workers entering WA than bolstering the local economy.

“An increase of workers from mainland China entering WA indicates his support,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“Premier McGowan’s popularity will decline if he continues to put himself and his self-interests before that of WA. He risks economic shutdown with his gestapo tactics.”

“The WA economy must keep growing and moving forward especially during the COVID-19 shutdown and before JobKeeper ends. This is crucial for the survival of the domestic economy and for the whole of Australia.

Clive Palmer has unveiled plans to set up an investment bank that would focus on projects in the resource-rich state where he is earning hundreds of millions of dollars a year in royalties from Chinese conglomerate CITIC.

Mr Palmer said he would look to bankroll large scale resources and technology projects for Australian companies with an emphasis on WA.

“We think there’s a social obligation to put something back into WA and we also think there are good business opportunities here that Australians are losing out on,” he said.

Mr Palmer said his company Mineralogy would look at mezzanine funding, cornerstone investments, joint ventures and buy outs as part of its push into WA, where he has purchased a riverside home and is spending more and more time.

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With JobKeeper payments expiring shortly and Queensland maintaining lock down and closed borders, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had condemned nearly a million Queenslanders to financial ruin, unemployment, stress and family break-up, Clive Palmer said in Brisbane today.

“Queensland is not going to open until September. What does she expect families to do?” the leader of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party said.

“It’s alright for the Premier, she is on a huge taxpayer-funded salary, but what about the average person.

“The Labor Party is a heartless institution that has destroyed our state” Mr Palmer said.

“While the rest of Australia has opened its borders, the Queensland government is stopping people visiting the state and condemning Queensland’s tourism industry.

“Australians want holidays now and they want to come to Queensland. Queensland must be in a position to fulfill that need or lose the market and jobs forever.

“It’s ironic that after running the state debt up to nearly a hundred billion dollars by employing her mates, one minute she wants to buy Virgin Australia and the next minute she wants to keep Queensland closed,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“I would advise her not to buy Virgin in any event but she would further destroy the airline by locking down Queensland’s borders.

“I just don’t know how she expects people and the economy to survive. Is the Queensland Government going to continue JobKeeper?

“There are no health issues that justify the continued destruction of Queensland as the Premier well knows.

“She is forever seeking approval but she and her government will pay at the polls later this year for the economic ruin she brought upon Queensland families,’’ Mr Palmer said.

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Clive Palmer has labelled the Queensland Government’s bid to buy a stake in Virgin Australia as nothing more than political grandstanding.

The leader of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party has slammed the idea, saying that if the Queensland Labor Government was serious about jobs it should allow Queensland Nickel access to the Port of Townsville.

“How could this government run an airline when it has done such a terrible job running Queensland?” Mr Palmer said.

“This is nothing more than political grandstanding,’’ he said.

“If the Palaszczuk Government really cared about jobs and a strong economic future for Queenslanders, there are as many as 3000 jobs ready to go with the reopening of Queensland Nickel, which would cost her nothing,” Mr Palmer said.

Mr Palmer said Queensland Nickel was only seeking from the Port Authority the same terms and conditions for a new lease that had been successfully operating for 20 years previously.

“The Queensland Labor government refuses to allow access to the port it owns and controls while the people of North Queensland suffer,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“This government doesn’t care about the people it represents. It doesn’t care about the thousands of jobs that could be created and it doesn’t care about the businesses that are going under without the economic stimulus that the refinery would provide the region.

“Labor needs to exercise its authority to approve all terms and conditions to renew the port leases and create real jobs, instead of grandstanding about buying airlines,” Mr Palmer said.

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Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party has backed calls for outback communities to be a case model for reopening as COVID-19 restrictions ease.

Leader, Clive Palmer said the party faithful had been loud and clear in regional Queensland about getting back to business in a responsible manner.t

“Regional and outback Queensland has been doing it particularly tough with crippling drought and now the COVID-19 downturn,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“The Queensland Premier should give special consideration to towns such as Longreach, Winton, Blackall and Charleville to rebuild community spirit and get the economy moving again,’’ Mr Palmer said.

Blackall postal contractor Stan Haughton said he was concerned outback hotels, cafes and other businesses may be forced to close for good if restrictions were not eased.

“As the current limitations continue, the ability of traders in outback communities to be resilient and re-open their doors weaken every day,’’ Mr Haughton said.

“In these communities where there are zero coronavirus cases, why not give businesses the opportunity to responsibly start opening up to their local clients again, and put workers back on their payrolls?

“The pubs never get more than 20 to 30 people in at any one time so social distancing rules are easy to maintain,” he said.

Mr Palmer said the party supported an easing of restrictions to allow regional Queensland businesses to open to local patrons, with all the necessary safeguards in place including limiting the number of customers, social distancing measures and other health protocols.

“The Premier should allow these communities to reopen as a test case for a broader easing of restrictions across the state,’’ Mr Palmer said.

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True to his word, Clive Palmers’ Palmer Foundation has bought over 32,900,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine. Millions of doses of the drug have already arrived in Australia. The Palmer Foundation has already paid for the drug in the form of tablets and bulk pharmaceuticals.

The Palmer Foundation has donated the drug to the Australian Government to be placed on the National Medical Stockpile so it may be made available free to all Australians.

In the United States of America, President Trump has confirmed the country had 29,000,000 doses of the drug on its national medical stockpile to be available to 330 million Americans.

On the 2 April 2020, Australia’s Minister for Health, Greg Hunt announced hydroxychloroquine would be made available if doctors wish to use it to treat COVID-19 patients who are in Australian hospitals. Since that time, Australia’s death rate from COVID-19 has been the lowest in the world and the curve has flattened. Mr Hunt also congratulated Mr Palmer for the steps he was then taking to acquire hydroxychloroquine internationally, paying for the effort with his own money.

On 2 April 2020, Caroline Edwards, Acting Secretary for the Department of Health, as a delegate of the Minister for Health, established the Therapeutic Goods (Medicines— Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine) (COVID-19 Emergency) Exemption 2020. The exemption allowed the Palmer Foundation to make the acquisitions for the sole purpose of donating all drugs acquired for the free use of the Australian people.

“The Australian government has done a great job in protecting and defending the Australian people in this time of national crisis. In particular, the Prime Minister has showed the calm leadership necessary to guide the nation in troubled times,” Mr Palmer said.

“The Health Minister Greg Hunt had shown exceptional courage and dedication for filling his role and his performance as health minister was just what any doctor would have ordered.”

Mr Palmer said that he believed that hydroxychloroquine was the best hope for those suffering COVID-19.  He said that while all Australians had played a critical role in containing the virus, they had to remain vigilant that a second wave did not destroy the economic fabric of the nation and Australian lives.

“The tablets we have acquired have a shelf life of three years and the bulk materials longer,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“A vaccine may take many years to develop and Australia has to be ready to provide the best treatment for its citizens should the worst occur. The small contribution that I have made will assist Australia in getting back on its feet sooner.

“The challenge now facing all Australians is to save our country’s economy and restore employment and prosperity to all.

“I am happy that the quick action we took in early March to secure hydroxychloroquine for Australia has been successful. It is important that Australians that have been using the drug to treat malaria, lupus and autoimmune diseases over the last 40 years will not have any difficulty in acquiring the drug.”

Mr Palmer said it was critical that the drug remained available in hospitals for those who needed it to treat COVID-19 and was available to the Australian community when required.

“If we had not moved in early March when we did, we would have lost our opportunity,’’ he said.

“At this time of national crisis in our country, all Australians must do whatever they can to help their fellow Australians.

“I want all Australians who have done well in this country to remember their fellow Australians and the sacrifices that have been made by previous generations and dig deep to support all efforts necessary to defeat this threat to our lives and our livelihood,’’ Mr Palmer said.

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The former Member for Fairfax in the 44^th Parliament, Clive Palmer, said today the timing of Malcolm Turnbull’s book launch was in poor taste.

“Clearly the former PM has attention deficit disorder to be thinking only of himself while the country is focussing on COVID-19,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“Everybody else is doing the right thing in delaying events at this difficult time, however Malcolm Turnbull is doing the opposite and busily seeking attention.

“The reality is that people don’t care about Malcolm Turnbull and his attacks on former colleagues,’’ Mr Palmer said.

Mr Palmer said the timing of the book launch reflected Malcolm Turnbull’s true colours.

“He obviously still finds it difficult to accept that his own party dumped him as leader, and finds it even more difficult to cope with the fact that Scott Morrison has become Prime Minister,’’ he said.

“Malcolm Turnbull’s desperate attempt to find relevance by attacking former colleagues shows his true character. It would be very difficult for the book to portray any good qualities of Mr Turnbull.

“A failed Prime Minister is best forgotten. Those who dwell on the past fail to prosper in the future,’’ Mr Palmer said.

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Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party has been officially registered as a new political party in Queensland.

Pursuant to the provisions of Part 6 of the Electoral Act 1992, the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) has changed the Register of Political Parties to include Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, it was announced today.

The party would like to thank its members for their assistance in satisfying ECQ requirements for the successful registration.

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