Commentary
In the 2019 election campaign, billionaire Clive Palmer spent around $80 million (US$60 million) on advertising, including ubiquitous billboards and television and radio ads to promote his United Australia Party (UAP). Although the UAP ran candidates in all 151 electorates, it only received a primary vote of 3.4 percent and failed to elect any of its candidates.
This year, the billboard advertising campaign has been reinstated, and television viewers are again bombarded with advertisements for the UAP.
Zoe Samios and Lisa Visentin recently noted in The Sydney Morning Herald that Clive Palmer spends 100 times more than major parties on advertising, “putting him on track to fulfil his promise to run the most expensive election campaign in the nation’s history.”
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