Abbott will regret Palmer attack: Labor
AAP
April 02, 2014
The Australian
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott's attack on Clive Palmer's big spend to secure a Senate seat at Saturday's WA poll re-run will come back to bite him, Labor believes.
The coalition and Labor are concerned about the mining magnate's big advertising spend ahead of the election re-run on April 5, the outcome of which will affect their ability to pass or block key bills.
Mr Abbott has accused Mr Palmer of "spending money like a drunken sailor" on a massive advertising blitz in an attempt to buy seats in parliament.
The prime minister said the minor party could not be trusted to repeal the carbon tax.
But Labor warns the decision to "unleash the dogs" on Mr Palmer could backfire if his Palmer United Party is successful in securing a third Senate seat.
"I suspect they will rue the day they did that because come July 1, they will be in bed with Clive Palmer," Labor MP Jason Clare told Sky News on Wednesday.
"I think Tony Abbott's judgment in attacking Clive Palmer is probably a bad mistake on his part and he will live to regret that."
Parliamentary secretary Josh Frydenberg says at least the major parties stood for something, unlike Mr Palmer's party.
"We're not exactly sure what Clive Palmer stands for," the coalition MP told Sky News.
"Both the coalition and Labor Party have been around a long time ... you can't compare the status of major parties to that of Clive Palmer's."
Mr Palmer said he had only spent a third of what the Liberal Party did at the federal election.
The Palmer United Party leader said Mr Abbott shouldn't be complaining since his party had previously benefited from his political donations.
"No matter how much money you spend on advertising, if you have a bad idea people won't vote for you," he told Network Ten.
Asked what his party stood for, Mr Palmer pointed to "extensive" policies listed on his party's website including reforming the GST so West Australians got more in the commonwealth carve-up.
Mr Palmer rejected claims his delay in paying an almost $7 million carbon tax bill owed by his firm Queensland Nickel was because he was in debt.
"You're accusing me of spending too much money and then running out of money - get your act together."
He also rejected claims he was trying to win a seat in order to disrupt the government.
"Tony Abbott around the cabinet table is called 'WTF' at the moment," he said.
"That means Worse Than (Malcolm) Fraser."