There is something bizarre going down in Australian politics, and its name is Clive Palmer.
In 2013, this mining billionaire formed a political party he called the Palmer United Party (PUP). Some people paid attention, most tried to look the other way.
This is because Palmer isn't your regular politician.
The one and only: Palmersaurus.
Image: Bradley Kanaris, Getty Images
First, the billionaire mining magnate built Palmersaurus, a theme park on the Sunshine Coast filled with fake dinosaurs. Then he moved on to bigger things â€" with a plan to build the Titanic II. He is a large man with a booming laugh and a twinkle in his eye.
Clive Palmer gets comfortable.
Image: Bradley Kanaris, Getty Images
Many assumed that old Clive had lost his marbles. Then something extraordinary happened. Palmer won the lower house seat of Fairfax in the 2013 Australian election. Next, three of his senate candidates won their seats. On July 1, 2014, Glenn Lazarus, Jacqui Lambie and Dio Wang packed their suitcases for the bright lights of Parliament in Canberra, as Palmer struck a deal with Australian Motoring Enthusiast party Senator Ricky Muir. PUP was suddenly looking very dangerous.
Palmer's friends were a little rough around the edges â€" and suddenly they held the crucial balance-of-power votes in the Australian Senate.
Palmer and friends.
Image: William West, AFP, Getty Images
In the current Senate, there are 33 Coalition government senators, 25 Labor senators and 10 Greens senators. This means if the government cannot secure support from the Labor opposition and the Greens, it will need six of the eight crossbench votes to get key election promises through the senate.
PUP are now major players in key decisions. Here's what has gone down since the PUPs were let loose:
Carbon tax repeal voted down
Palmer's senators wasted no time mixing things up. In the first week of sitting parliament, they voted down the government's number one election promise â€" to scrap the carbon tax. The bill was rejected 37 votes to 35.
A strange partnership: Al Gore and Clive Palmer.
Image: Kym Smith, Newspix, Getty Images
The carbon tax is a big political talking point and highly emotive issue in Australia. The tax charges polluters per metric ton for the amount of carbon they release into the atmosphere. It was introduced by the former Labor Government; the Liberal Government is against the tax.
Palmer has always been against the tax, being a mining man. He announced his plans to vote it down at a bizarre press conference flanked by, of all people, Al Gore â€" who had convinced Palmer to support an emissions trading scheme instead.
But at the 11th hour, as the vote approached, Palmer said his senators wouldn't vote for the tax repeal. Why? He wanted an amendment to the bill to force power companies to pass on the tax cut savings to consumers.
Meanwhile, Palmer has voted down other bills, leaving a gaping multi-billon dollar hole in the Federal Budget. The government is now scrambling to get the carbon tax bill amended and passed before parliament breaks for winter next Friday.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is not a happy man.
Image: Stefan Postles, Getty Images
Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett weighed into the debate, accusing Palmer of being a "great blimp".
"He reminds me of a great blimp flying around this world of ours, this country of ours, and every now and then it lets off steam, or, to use a Clive Palmer expression, he just farts," Kennett told Fairfax Radio. "That's all he does, he floats around, he causes trouble, there is no logic to what he is doing and it can be so damaging to this country."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott tried to remain positive in the face of disorder: "The important thing is that the government gets on with delivering the commitments that we made to the Australian people before the election," he said.
Palmer walks out of live television interview
The circus didn't end as parliament finished for the day on Thursday. In another headline-grabbing incident, Palmer walked out on an interview with ABC’s 7.30 Report host Sarah Ferguson when she asked about his Chinese business interests and an ongoing legal battle with a business partner.
“Don’t talk to me about allegations and bullsh*t. I’m not discussing it any further with you madame ... it’s subject to court proceedings â€" we’re suing them for $600 million,†Palmer said to Ferguson before removing his earpiece and walking off set.
And what's a man like Clive Palmer to do after a stressful day under the spotlight? Head to New Zealand for a skiing holiday, of course.
PUP senator tells the PM what she really thinks
Even before parliament had started for the year, PUP senator and former Australian Army soldier Jacqui Lambie made her feelings clear. She told the Prime Minister to "toughen up" by swallowing a "bucket of cement" and to stop using his daughters for his political gain.
“I understand there is times when our families will be caught in pictures and on TV monitors, but there’s a fine line between that and parading them for your own self purposes and … to forge your own career,†she told Today.
Earlier, she labelled the Prime Minister and his Treasurer Joe Hockey “nothing less than a pair of deceitful, lying, political politicians†on live television. With Lambie, as with Palmer, nothing is off limits.
Ricky Muir fumbles through rare interview
He made be one of the most powerful men in parliament, but Ricky Muir doesn't come across as powerful in media interviews, as you can see. This isn't even the first time he has become a YouTube star. A video emerged of Muir, posted to his personal YouTube account, of him throwing kangaroo poo at other men.
''My past does not represent how I am now and it has nothing to do with the party,'' Muir told Seven News when the video emerged. We hope not.
Palmer and friends are certainly mixing things up. Whether all the political chaos is good for the country has yet to be seen. Somewhere, Prime Minister Tony Abbott is nursing a massive headache.
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