Transcript: The Clive Palmer exclusive
CHRIS BATH: But first, if you thought politics was weird in Australia, you ain't seen nothing yet. Clive Palmer and his litter of pups, his fresh-faced soon-to-be senators from his Palmer United Party, are going to make life for all of us very interesting to say the least. Palmer is eccentric and unpredictable, even inviting us to a meeting half a world away and then not showing up. From July 1, his Senators will hold the balance of power in Parliament and they're promising a revolution. So, fasten your seatbelts, it's going be a bumpy ride.
MIKE WILLESEE: Before take-off, Clive Palmer has an unusual routine.
CLIVE PALMER: Oh, hello, Tony. Can I order some takeaway please?
MIKE WILLESEE: He rings, or pretends to ring, Tony Abbott.
CLIVE PALMER: Can I have three lots of fish and chips? Yes, a nice pizza - have you got pizza there? No, thin and crispy, mate. Yep, ham and pineapple.
FLIGHT CREW: Ladies and gentlemen... OK, we're taking off now.
CLIVE PALMER: Sorry, Tony. We'll pick that up when we get there. All the best. ..welcome aboard Global Express for your flight today.
MIKE WILLESEE: He provides his own in-flight announcements. And laughs at his own jokes. And all of this before we've even taken off. But then, Clive has his name on the plane which is why this story starts at the end. I'll explain later. It was an unusual offer - a flying visit to Boston to interview Clive Palmer and meet his senators-elect who will soon hold the balance of power in Australia. They flew business class. Clive was to fly separately on his private jet and meet me there. In the meantime, I'd meet his senate team. Starting with his senate leader - league legend Glenn Lazarus, who swapped football for politics. And, on Clive's team, there's no salary cap.
MIKE WILLESEE: You've been a team man for a long time. What's the difference?
GLENN LAZARUS: None. No different. I think Clive had the idea that it would be a bit of a bonding session. We'd get both Jackie, myself, Dio and of course, Ricky Muir, together to come over here and just get to know each other a bit more.
MIKE WILLESEE: OK, in the absence of Clive, who is the boss?
JACKIE LAMBIE: That would be me.
MIKE WILLESEE: What are we doing here in Boston?
JACKIE LAMBIE: Well, we are here in Boston so we can get some experience. I don't know what you're doing here in Boston but that's what we are doing here!
MIKE WILLESEE: OK, so now that you're the boss, what's going to happen?
JACKIE LAMBIE: We're just gonna go with the flow. No, they'll be right - they're big enough to look after themselves.
MIKE WILLESEE: I heard the new senator for Tasmania was feisty. Jacqui Lambie, a single mother of two, is a former soldier who shoots from the lip. How far did you go in the army?
JACKIE LAMBIE: I went up to a corporal and was ready for promotion to do a promotion to sergeant. Background is I joined the army at 18, I was medically discharged at 27.
MIKE WILLESEE: You have had some tough years, haven't you?
JACKIE LAMBIE: Yeah, I have had some tough years. What happened? I did some back damage whilst I was in the army and then I had to fight Veterans Affairs for the next 10 or 13 years - still fighting them.
JACKIE LAMBIE: Spent 10 years basically laying between the couch and a bed in health centres - or psychiatric units, whatever you want to call them these days. And then, yeah, second chance at life - had a new shots in my spine and thought, "This is it, I am going for it." And this is where I am now, 2.5, 3 years later.
MIKE WILLESEE: How do you think you might change Australia?
JACKIE LAMBIE: Well, I would like to change the way veterans are treated because they are treated poorly. So that would be the first thing I would like to have changed. Of course, I want to be there to help out Tasmania because right now, it's in an economic state of emergency. The other thing I would like to see is most of those parliamentarians lifting the bar. 'Cause right now they seem to be sitting on their seats in a nice, casual way and that's not good leadership.
JACKIE LAMBIE: I just think they need a bit of a kick up the rear end. So I'm hoping that I can lift the level so they will lift the level as well. I don't care whose fault it is, I just want change.
MIKE WILLESEE: Would you vote for Tony Abbott?
JACKIE LAMBIE: No.
MIKE WILLESEE: Why not?
JACKIE LAMBIE: Because I don't believe he's a strong leader.
MIKE WILLESEE: What's his weakness?
JACKIE LAMBIE: His weakness is probably he's indecisive and I am not sure he knows exactly what he is doing.
MIKE WILLESEE: What you think of Bill Shorten? I think Bill is a bit of a boy and that's gonna be his downfall.
MIKE WILLESEE: Thanks, Jackie.
JACKIE LAMBIE: No worries.
MIKE WILLESEE: Just wait a sec. Just need a couple of two shots. Tell me your favourite weapon.
JACKIE LAMBIE: Oh, definitely the M60. Massive firepower. Yeah, when you have got that in your hand...
MIKE WILLESEE: The Palmer United Party PUPs were sure getting to know Boston. But how far away was Clive? On day one, his spokesman told me that Clive was airborne and on his way to meet with me while his team soaked up the Boston experience.
Clive, being the chairman of the JFK Library, has organised tours of the library and we're going to some pretty swanky functions with a lot of ex-politicians. And hopefully, by meeting these dignitaries over here, it will give us some good ideas about how we can go into our term come July 1.
MIKE WILLESEE: live Palmer idolises John F. Kennedy. He's given millions of dollars to the JFK Library and its annual Profiles in Courage award. The award is big in Boston. But at breakfast on day two, 17 hours after I had been assured Clive had taken off, his spokesman told me Clive had just rung, saying there was a problem with the plane's radar and he wouldn't make the award. It is a huge day. The guest list - congressmen, senators, ambassadors, grandchildren of presidents. The only problem is Clive Palmer didn't turn up.
MIKE WILLESEE: Clive, where are you?
SPEECH: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. JFK was 42 when he was elected president in 1961 on the barest of margins.
MIKE WILLESEE: 34-year-old Ricky Muir, senator-elect for Victoria, knows what that feels like. You're going into the senate with the lowest vote ever recorded. Do you feel lucky about that?
RICKY MUIR: I feel honoured. 0.51%, it's incredible. Yes.
MIKE WILLESEE: And you have it for six years.
RICKY MUIR: Yes. Exciting times ahead, that's for sure.
MIKE WILLESEE: The only thing Ricky Muir loves more than his cars and bikes is his wife and five kids. The solo senator-elect for the Motoring Enthusiasts Party has formed an alliance with Clive Palmer. He is a little unused to politics but soon, he will exercise real power.
MIKE WILLESEE: Do you understand what balance of power means?
RICKY MUIR: Yes. It is the potential if... ..in this case, Labor and the Greens... Um... ..it's the power to vote down legislation in the right circumstances.
MIKE WILLESEE: It is also a power to negotiate, isn't it?
RICKY MUIR: It is.
MIKE WILLESEE: Any ideas what you would like to ask for? A deal?
Let's start straight away with driver education and safer roads.
MIKE WILLESEE: Tell me what sort of legislation you see. Right now, with the demise of Ford, Holden and Toyota, the motoring industry isn't dead. There's still a whole industry out there which can survive - people can still be retrained into other positions and at least, we can be there to try and support them.
MIKE WILLESEE: So you love cars. Why do you care who makes them?
RICKY MUIR: The after-marketing industry which can be supported. People who are losing their jobs... ..sorry... ..can we start that question again?
MIKE WILLESEE: Sure. Go ahead.
RICKY MUIR: So there is the after-market industry, which... ..sorry, can we go to another question? I put myself in a fluster.
MIKE WILLESEE: That's alright. Just take a few deep breaths. I don't know what you mean by after-marketing. After-market industry. What do you mean?
RICKY MUIR: The after-market industry is the industry... um...that is... Can I go out for a minute?
MIKE WILLESEE: Sure.
RICKY MUIR: Thank you very much.
MIKE WILLESEE: Do you want a glass of water?
RICKY MUIR: I think I need a glass of water.
MIKE WILLESEE: After a few words of advice from one of his minders... ..Ricky returned.
MIKE WILLESEE: It might help if, when I ask you a question, don't think of making a political statement. Just if we were talking in a pub...
RICKY MUIR: Talk in the pub, yeah.
MIKE WILLESEE: If I asked you any of these questions, you would have answers for me. That is how you have to talk to me.
RICKY MUIR: Yes.
MIKE WILLESEE: Do you think - this balance of power is very powerful, do you think you can change Australia?
RICKY MUIR: I would like... Of course, we can. I'm bringing in the voice of the everyday Australian. So that is very important. I think that has needed to be brought in for a long time.
MIKE WILLESEE: You're one of the very few senators-elect who is still working, working in a timber mill, aren't you?
RICKY MUIR: Yes, I am working in a timber mill and I will be up until the very last moment, I can only presume.
Certainly, I have a very clear understanding of the needs of the working-class Australian.
MIKE WILLESEE: Thanks, Ricky. Thank you. Thank you for being here today.
MIKE WILLESEE: This is a great day for the library and for America. A great day without Clive Palmer. Later, I would get yet another version about the missing 17 hours. That it wasn't the radar, but a faulty toilet that had kept Clive grounded. Seeking a straight answer, I turned to soon-to-be senator Dio Wang.
MIKE WILLESEE: Dio, how did you get this job of... ..answering the question - where is Clive Palmer?
DIO WANG: I understand his plane had a technical issue and unfortunately, he cannot be here with us today. But we have our senate leader and deputy senate leader and the even senate whip here, so I think you should be happy.
MIKE WILLESEE: I wouldn't say I was happy, Dio. 33-year-old Dio Wang was born in Nanking and came to Australia in his early 20s to study engineering. He is not only a senator-elect, he is CEO of Clive Palmer's mining company, Minerology.
MIKE WILLESEE: You are about to become a senator. If you're facing a vote in the senate and Clive Palmer calls you in and says, "I want you to vote this way," and you think, "No, I want to vote the other way," what's going to happen?
DIO WANG: I'll vote with my heart.
MIKE WILLESEE: You will stand up to him? Simple as that. Have you ever stood up to him?
DIO WANG: Not yet, because he has been always right so far.
MIKE WILLESEE: Do you think he would be a great leader?
DIO WANG: He is already a great leader.
MIKE WILLESEE: By the end of the Boston tour, it was becoming a little obvious that our welcome had worn a little thin.
RICKY MUIR: I think the TV crew want a picture of the senators walking down the stairs.
GLENN LAZARUS: Do they? What they get and what they want are two different things, Ricky.
MIKE WILLESEE: Big Glenn turned tail and I still didn't know the real reason why big Clive hadn't turned up. So if the man mountain wouldn't come to us... we would go to him. Well, this is the Palmer Coolum Resort, which I think is owned by Clive Palmer - there's a little disputation about that too - but I think we might finally find him here today.
MIKE WILLESEE: We were told he would be here now, we are told he is coming but let's be optimistic, let's find Clive. I think we have got some good news coming, looks like Clive in a buggy.
CLIVE PALMER: Hello, Mike. How you going, Mike? How are you? Welcome to Coolum. Thanks. Where have you been? I have been waiting for you. You have finally come to the best place in the world.
MIKE WILLESEE: But you weren't waiting in Boston.
CLIVE PALMER: We weren't. But you have to see - all of Australia is wondering what are these senators like. Are they all puppets for us, or have they all got their own mind, right? Letting them go to Boston independently with a news crew is the best thing you could do. Because if I'd gone to Boston, you would have spent all your time with me and you wouldn't have got to know them and Australia wouldn't know who they are. Now they do.
MIKE WILLESEE: So, you fooled us?
CLIVE PALMER: We did a quick switcheroo on you, Mike. It's an old trick in the business. But didn't you have a good time?
MIKE WILLESEE: No.
CLIVE PALMER: You did. I'm sure.
MIKE WILLESEE: But let's be serious about this. Your spokesman said you were in transit on the Friday afternoon.
CLIVE PALMER: I was in transit, but with aircraft, what can you do? We had trouble with the aircraft, that's the truth.
But if you're in the air Friday afternoon at 3:00 and then 8am on the Saturday, you make a phone call and say you've got a problem, someone's not telling the truth.
CLIVE PALMER: They picked me up here from Maroochydore. I'm in the air alright but I can't leave from Maroochydore, I've got to fly to Sydney or a... ..where there's Customs to leave Australia. And during that time there was a fault and I had to stop and stay.
MIKE WILLESEE: So, who do I believe? That really happened or you fooled us?
CLIVE PALMER: That really happened. But anyway, let's go have some lunch.
MIKE WILLESEE: OK, Clive. All I can say is it was a long way to go for a no-show.
So, despite Clive's invitation to fly to Boston to meet him at our expense, he never really intended to go but he continued to make a joke of it.
CLIVE PALMER: Welcome, Mike. Welcome to the Titanic II room. We hope you feel happy and we hope we can give you a great lunch so you feel better for all the nasty things we did to you, sending you all over the world. No icebergs. No icebergs but some great ice cubes.
MIKE WILLESEE: As much as he likes a feed, Clive likes a fight. He's suing the Queensland Premier, has verbally attacked Tony Abbott's chief of staff and is in a massive legal stoush with his Chinese business partners over $450 million of annual royalties. And then there's the 300 timeshare owners at Coolum who claim to have been locked out by Clive. Clive just laughs it off.
MIKE WILLESEE: Not many people here, Clive. What's happening?
CLIVE PALMER: Having a rest, Mike. You're here. We have got to make sure you don't get mobbed so we have to take precautions to protect your security. Let's go. Here's the dinosaur park. The Palmersaurus. This guy doesn't like you very much. This guy up here, looks like he's flying. Is this how you imagined it would be, Mike?
MIKE WILLESEE: I didn't even think about it. Clive never stops.
CLIVE PALMER: That's a T-Bird. They're two Bugattis. You've probably heard of Bugattis. This car over here is a Horch and if you look at Hitler going into Vienna, he went into Vienna in one of these, right? The Royal family of Dubai had this particular Rolls-Royce in 2000. This is Louis Mountbatten's personal Rolls-Royce and this is the Silver Ghost 1911, the first model of the Rolls-Royce, right? This is the President of Mexico's car.
MIKE WILLESEE: I got the full tour but what I really wanted was straight answers to a few direct questions, like exactly how much is he worth. Are you a billionaire?
CLIVE PALMER: I don't know. Ask The Courier Mail. They're the ones that put me at the top in Queensland and said I was worth $2.5 billion last year. I've never said that anywhere. That's their rich list.
MIKE WILLESEE: But I'm asking you. You're the only one who knows.
Well, I don't know, really. I don't look at those sort of things. I just look at, ah, having... ..living my life and doing the best I can.
MIKE WILLESEE: No, come on. You're a very good businessman, very astute, very successful. You've got to know what you're worth.
CLIVE PALMER: Well, I haven't really tallied it. My wife would be able to tell you that - you know, my wife's in charge of our my finances, not me.
MIKE WILLESEE: And while on the subject of money, what about the mining tax? You haven't decided your stand on the mining tax?
CLIVE PALMER: Well...well, I've got to talk to our senators. They've been locked up in Boston all week. Talking about Boston again. Did you like Boston, Mike?
MIKE WILLESEE: No, I didn't. Didn't you? It wasn't Boston's fault. Wasn't it? No, I just missed the target.
CLIVE PALMER: Did you? Well, here I am.
MIKE WILLESEE: But you've got this motoring enthusiast now working with your party in the Senate... and you flew him to Boston, which is fine. He's now part of your group. But you flew two of his associates. Well, isn't that sort of spreading your largesse to...to keep...
CLIVE PALMER: Well, not really.
MIKE WILLESEE: Well, isn't that buying them?
CLIVE PALMER: No, I don't think so. You know, I mean, they came as invitation about the ideas, you know? Boston oozes with ideas, and we want to encourage political debate among the people.
MIKE WILLESEE: You gave them a great trip and it cost you a lot of money.
CLIVE PALMER: Well, I don't think it cost me a lot, Mike, at all, you know, to be honest with you?
MIKE WILLESEE: You flew 10 people over.
CLIVE PALMER: Well, I didn't fly everyone over, you know? I didn't personally pay for any of those things.
MIKE WILLESEE: Who paid for it? That's something different.
MIKE WILLESEE: Who paid for them? Simple question.
CLIVE PALMER: Well, I don't know. I'll have to talk to our national director and ask him.
MIKE WILLESEE: No, no, you said the party paid for it and now you're saying you don't know. Well, I don't know who within the party paid for it. Very impressive team, Clive. Well, if Clive didn't know, perhaps his parliamentary team did.
MIKE WILLESEE: So, who paid for the Boston trip?
RICKY MUIR: I don't know.
MIKE WILLESEE: But you were grateful to Clive for sending you?
RICKY MUIR: Yeah. So you think he paid? Yeah. OK.
MIKE WILLESEE: He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on that trip.
RICKY MUIR: That trip was an inspirational trip for me and I really enjoyed every moment of it.
And your gratitude for him spending that money?
RICKY MUIR: Can you please ask that question again?
MIKE WILLESEE: It was his money, wasn't it?
RICKY MUIR: I don't think you can discuss where the money came from.
MIKE WILLESEE: Well, where do you think it came from? The money does come from his pocket?
RICKY MUIR: Well, as far as I know. Unless it's coming out of yours. (CHUCKLES) Is it?
MIKE WILLESEE: Before we wound up, I was keen to test how independent his "Palmer pups" really are. I am talking about independence. I want to get the four senators-elect individually away from the group because what happens if everyone hears the same questions and answers, you start getting similar answers.
CLIVE PALMER: Oh, OK.
MIKE WILLESEE: So, I'm gonna pull these guys away one by one.
CLIVE PALMER: Well, you got to remember, Mike, they're not independents. We're all part of a party. We're all gonna vote together and sit together.
MIKE WILLESEE: Now, now, you're telling them what to answer now.
CLIVE PALMER: Oh, no, I'm not. I'm not, sorry, sorry.
MIKE WILLESEE: I want them to give me these answers.
CLIVE PALMER: OK, I won't tell them. Don't tell them a thing. I haven't got to tell them. OK, good on you.
MIKE WILLESEE: Ricky, do you want to start? Good on you, Ricky. You don't have to.
RICKY MUIR: No, I won't start. I will let somebody else start.
MIKE WILLESEE: But before I really got into my questions, in the background - and still wearing his radio mike - Clive was already giving the answers to Jacqui and Glen.
MIKE WILLESEE: If he tells you to vote a certain way and you really, seriously disagree with him, what would you do?
GLENN LAZARUS: Well, we are a team, mate, and we have the same ideals and principles and there will be times where I will compromise. Because we're voting as a team and as a block and we think that's the best way we can get things done. I think the senate, at the moment, is not working overly well. I think if you ask Tony Abbott, he would say it's not working at all because there's nothing being passed. So we're hopefully going to go in there and work out what's best for Australians and, in my case, what's best for Queenslanders and hopefully, we can get some things done.
CHRIS BATH: Let us know on our Facebook page what you think about Clive.
