After millions of dollars and texts, Clive Palmer's Trumpet of Patriots fails to win lower house seat

Australia Broadcast Center

05-05-2025

It turns out spamming millions of voters with unsolicited texts doesn't bode well in elections.
At least it didn't for billionaire Clive Palmer's party, Trumpet of Patriots.
Mr Palmer told the Daily Telegraph his party spent a whopping $60 million on the election campaign, splashing advertisements across newspapers, television screens, social media platforms and billboards ahead of polling day.
The media blitz aimed to promote about 100 Trumpet of Patriot candidates gunning for seats in the lower house and in every state in the Senate.
Election essentials:
A billboard in Hobart promoting Trumpet of Patriots.
(
ABC News: Kate Nickels
)
Despite the colossal campaign spend, this year's election results show the fringe party has failed to pick up a seat in the House of Representatives.
There is still some hope for the Senate, but those results won't become clear for at least another week while counting continues.
Inspired by US President Donald Trump, the party offered a platform of cutting immigration, limiting foreign ownership of Australian property and removing the "woke agenda" from schools.
As of 6pm on Monday night, Trumpet of Patriots had won a total of 249,165 first preference votes.
That's less than 2 per cent of the primary vote, which places it alongside minor parties such as Family First and Legalise Cannabis Australia.
Analysis from media firm Adgile shows Trumpet of Patriots spent more than $24.1 million across television ads, on-demand video content and YouTube advertisements this election.
That's the most money spent by a party on campaign ads this election, closely followed by $24 million for Labor, $20.7 million for the Coalition and $4 million for the Greens and other parties.
Trumpet of Patriots also flooded millions of Australians with unsolicited text messages ahead of polling day, without providing a way to "opt out".
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) said the behaviour was
Trumpet of Patriots delivered a flurry of text messages to Australians.
(
ABC News: Ashleigh Davis
)
The texts promised to "cut immigration by 80 per cent" and said "you don't need to be welcomed to your own country".
The messages were authorised by "H Fong".
Harold "Harry" Fong is described on the party's website as a "highly respected barrister" and the lead Senate candidate for Queensland.
The ABC understands frustrated internet sleuths found Mr Fong's contact details and began hounding him with texts.
Trumpet of Patriots candidate Harold "Harry" Fong.
(
Supplied: Trumpet of Patriots
)
Monash University's head of politics Zareh Ghazarian said the election result was "a clear indication Australians were just not convinced by what the Trumpet of Patriots was promoting".
"Family First ended up with roughly the same votes as the Trumpet of Patriots," Dr Ghazarian said.
"I can hardly remember seeing any sort of advertisement or paraphernalia from Family First."
In a major blow to Trumpet of Patriots, the party's star candidate Suellen Wrightson lost her bid for the NSW seat of Hunter.
She won just 3.44 per cent of the vote despite appearing in lengthy television ads in prime time slots.
Loading YouTube content
Located in the heart of NSW's coal country, Hunter emerged as a
Labor's Dan Repacholi held onto the marginal seat with a 4.8 per cent swing.
In a post to X on Saturday night, Ms Wrightson congratulated Anthony Albanese and said the party would learn from the experience.
"Importantly we will use this decisive Labor victory to re-evaluate our position, listen, learn and continue to present the important political issues to the Australian people," she said.
Read more about the federal election:
Want even more? Here's where you can find all our 2025
Catch the latest interviews and in-depth coverage on
One Nation delivers stronger results
Although Trumpet of Patriots failed to make a dint in the election, results show there is still an appetite for right-wing policies.
Pauline Hanson's One Nation
One Nation ran more than 140 candidates across the country.
Pauline Hanson was not on the ballot paper this time because she has another three years left on her Senate term.
(
AAP: Darren England
)
AEC data shows more than 830,000 Australians voted for One Nation in the House of Representatives, which Dr Ghazarian said "indicates significant appeal across the community".
"It's a big result for the party even if it's not going to mean they'll win a lower house seat,"
he said.
A close Senate contest is
Those results are still too early to call.
Dr Ghazarian said Labor's landslide victory over the weekend disproved the misconception that Australia's political climate was similar to the United States.
"This is something Labor had really picked up on throughout their messaging, the idea of doing things the Australian way," he said.
In his victory speech on Saturday night, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticised attempts to borrow from political strategies overseas, without singling out Mr Trump.
"Our government will choose the Australian way because we are proud of who we are and all that we have built together in this country," he told the crowd.
"We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else."