Australia news LIVE: $2.4b pledge to save Whyalla Steelworks; ASIO boss issues dire terror threat warning

Controversial Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer has spruiked his latest political venture on breakfast TV, talking up policies influenced by gender wars, immigration, cutting federal government spending and vaccines.

The mining tycoon plans to spend about $90 million on a Trump-inspired “Make Australia Great Again” platform, running candidates in the coming federal election for a party called Trumpet of Patriots.

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Appearing on Nine’s Today show this morning, Palmer claimed he had 10,000 new members join on Wednesday. “Australians do want policies of Donald Trump, commonsense policies,” he said.

“And I think you’ll see a big change. We don’t plan on having our preferences distributed – we plan to win seats.”

Palmer said Australia should “look to Elon Musk”, claiming Musk had found $5 trillion in wastage in the US federal government.

During Trump’s campaign, Musk said he was confident he could remove $US2 trillion in spending from the US’s $6.8 trillion federal budget, and in January he said: “I think if we try for 2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting [1 trillion]”.

Palmer said, “the same thing’s happening here”, pointing the finger at the number of consultants working for the Australian federal government.

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“We’ve got to get right in it and cut the federal expenditure back and make sure we live within our means,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ridiculed Palmer’s latest foray into politics.

“A bloke who spends over $100 million to deliver one Senate seat with a bloke who sits in the corner and just engages in conspiracy theories, I don’t think represents value for money,” Albanese said.