‘Trumpet of the Patriots’: Australian Politicians Seek to Capitalise on Trump’s Success

As expected, Australian politicians are seeking to emulate and capitalise on the success of Donald Trump in the United States – who secured a second term as President on the back of populist, nationalist rhetoric focused on targeting, belittling and demonising foreigners and adversaries. However, the implications of adopting such policies in Australia could be far-reaching, affecting not only our international relations but also our domestic social fabric.

Clive Palmer has created a new ‘Trumpet of the Patriots’ party, hoping to echo the fascist, prejudicial, and greedy policies of the dictatorial-based leader of the United States, ‘President’ Trump. This came after the failed high court bid to re-register the United Australia party, leaving many thinking that Palmer would take his millions and go home — on the other hand, he doubled down to show his unwavering support for the U.S. President. 

Unfortunately for Australia, just as is the case in America with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, billionaires have a huge say in politics within their country. Palmer is a mining billionaire from Queensland and a former Member of the Australian House of Representatives, who believes that he should influence the political map of Australia — solely because he wants to safeguard the billions of dollars in profit that come from the mining, iron, nickel, and local holdings. 

Instead of focusing on healthcare initiatives, mental health treatment, or other community-based programs that could actually help the country’s wellbeing, Palmer claims that the new Trumpet of the Patriots party will deliver ‘common sense solutions’ for the everyday challenges that Aussie citizens face—as if extremist policies are the way to help Australia’s social and economic standing. 

And he isn’t standing for only economic policies that could possibly be overlooked. Instead, he claims that adopting ‘all of Trump’s policies’ is the only way to stay current with the global shift occurring at the moment. This means backing extreme and, quite frankly, idiotic ideologies that target groups of individuals and divide the nation. 

Specific Policies that Palmer Wants to Adapt

When asked what specific policies Palmer wants to copy in Australia, he mentioned the key focus included transportation, the housing crisis, reducing foreign aid, increasing spending on welfare programs, and reducing overall government spending. 

Despite being quoted with hypothetical good intentions—noting that more than 3.7 million Australian households are struggling to keep food on the table and acknowledging the allocation of funds to extracurriculars, like football, while there are hungry families in the country—the adoption of ALL of Trump’s policies outweighs the ‘claim’ of helping the country’s lower socioeconomic families. 

As if the hypocrisy wasn’t enough, he was recorded as noting that ‘government consultants are ripping this country’ by getting paid four or five times the wage per hour of public servants’. Ironically, he then immediately criticised Albanese for hiring 36,000 public servants. 

Trumpet of the Patriots Party Leadership 

But Palmer won’t be leading the party himself — possibly a move to shirk responsibility. Instead, he left Suellen Wrightson to lead the Trumpet of the Patriots, with the hopes his chosen candidate eventually becomes the next Prime Minister of Australia. Wrightson was the former Shadow Minister for Families in the United Australia Party under Palmer’s leadership and also a Federal Senate candidate for the Palmer United Party in 2013. 

Unsurprising to no one, Palmer’s outlandish hypotheses are often unfounded. His wild claims that Wrightson will surely become the next Leader of Australia is similar to that of his predictions that UAP leader Craig Kelly would win in the 2022 election. Kelly ended up losing that election by a landslide, with Palmer’s over-one-million-dollar campaign spending fiasco leading to just one seat in the Senate for his party. 

Choosing someone to run the party, who has been under Palmer’s thumb for over a decade at this point, creates a figurehead for the mining billionaire to push Trump’s agenda however he sees fit. He made it known that he is willing to spend his money, with ‘whatever is required to be spent will be spent.’ 

Who Will Be the Leader in Charge of Working With Trump?

So, which party leader do we think is the best equipped to deal with the new POTUS?

If Dutton re-wins the election, the current Leader of the Opposition, he might decide to push some of the Republican and Trump-based policies, but not all. He is known for being a traditional conservative who follows party guidelines and pre-set structures, ensuring that he does not toe the line or tip the scales. He will no doubt push for a strong, macho leadership image to the public, focusing on reducing price gouging, attending the Paris Agreement on climate, adhering to the age restriction on social media, and influencing corporations to take a stance on social justice matters. 

On the other hand, if Albanese retains his seat as the Leader of the Labor Party, he claims that his relationship with the U.S. president is off to a ‘good start’. Despite initial positive relations, it might be an issue that former Labor Party prime minister, Kevin Rudd, made disparaging comments about Trump, which could hurt Albanese’s chances of forming a long-lasting working relationship with the President.

Trumpets of the Patriot Party Federal Election: Do They Stand a Chance?

The Trumpets of the Patriot Party, led by Clive Palmer, Suellen Wrightson, Glenn O’Rourke, and Nick Duffield, will contest at the 2025 federal election, along with in New South Wales and the Northern Territory for local and parliamentary elections. They intend to adopt most, if not all, of Trump’s insane and extremely divisive policies. But, do they stand a chance at winning, and what could this mean for the future of Australia?

If we can learn from the eye-opening history of the United States, anything is possible, and the potential for a similar outcome in Australia should give us pause.