Defiant Palmer cuts interview short
Clive Palmer has hung up the phone during a radio interview to avoid answering questions about controversial comments made by a senator from his party.
Mr Palmer was facing a backlash over his comments describing the Chinese government as "bastards" and "mongrels" on Tuesday when Jacqui Lambie said she supported her leader's comments about "China's military capacity and threat to Australia".
"If anybody thinks that we should have a national security and defence policy which ignores the threat of a Chinese communist invasion - you're delusional and got rocks in your head," the Tasmanian senator said.
Asked about Ms Lambie's comments on Wednesday, Mr Palmer refused to talk about the issue and instead accused the government of "bowing over backwards" for Chinese businesses so they could take Australian resources for free.
"You might like me to do that (talk about Ms Lambie's comments) but I'll do what I want," Mr Palmer told ABC radio in Perth.
"I'm accountable to my comments as a citizen of this country and she's a citizen of Australia too.
"If she wants to make a comment, that's fine."
When asked if he supported Ms Lambie's comments, the billionaire cut the interview short.
"I don't want to talk about that ... because I don't have to. Goodbye," he said.
Earlier, Mr Palmer said he did not discuss his original comments about China with WA senator Dio Wang during a meeting with him on Tuesday.
"We didn't discuss that at all," he told Fairfax radio.
Defending his comments, Mr Palmer said his words were taken out of context and that he had clarified his statements on Twitter.
"We're not talking about Chinese people we're talking about the Chinese communist government who are suppressing their people," he said.
