Launched in February, the Trumpet of Patriots party has bought 14 front page advertising spots across all of Australia’s major daily newspapers in the past five days alone, with the mining billionaire launching an advertising blitz and flooding Australia’s mainstream media with controversial messaging on immigration, gender and welcome to Country addresses.
Palmer’s United Australia Party made headlines in 2021 and 2022 for its controversial COVID-19 advertising and record-breaking $100 million election spend.
“He’ll give it a red-hot crack,” a spokesperson for the party told this masthead, when asked about the advertising outlay in the 2025 election.
“If that means going more than previous times, that might be the case.”
This is the final election Palmer and other parties’ advertising spend will not be capped, with Labor and the Liberal parties voting to restrict the kind of outlay seen in previous years.
The Trumpet of Patriots has already booked in almost $4 million in television advertising with the three commercial networks Seven, Nine and Ten in the five metro cities alone – with the election still yet to be called – a source with direct knowledge of the spend, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this masthead.
Numbers from Neilsen Ad Intel show Palmer spent almost $4 million across January and February on metro and regional print and television advertising through his mining company Mineralogy. The television ads were almost identical, however after the launch of the new party, referred to Palmer as the chair of the Trumpet of Patriots.
Tuesday’s The Australian feauturing an ad from the Trumpet of PatriotsCredit: News Corp
Launched last month after his former party, the United Australia Party, was deregistered, Palmer is trying to emulate many of the policies of the party’s namesake, President Donald Trump, including a recent executive order that there are two genders. Palmer is again leaning heavily on yellow branding to stand out.
Palmer fronts several of the adverts, speaking directly to a camera saying, “Australia needs Trump policies” and that “We don’t need to be welcomed to our own country”, while others running across different platforms feature former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson, praising Palmer for his commitments to free speech.
Some TV ads have begun appearing during popular shows such as Married at First Sight, as well as across all Australia’s major newspapers, including The Australian Financial Review, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and The Australian. The party has launched an outdoor billboard campaign across the nation, and pushed heavily into digital advertising.
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In its Friday edition, The Age ran an advertisement on the front page, which said: “We don’t need to be welcomed to our own country.” It featured a picture of Palmer and party leader Suellen Wrightson. The same ad ran on the front page of Tuesday’s Sydney Morning Herald, the AFR Weekend, and on the front page of all of News Corp’s four metro daily tabloids on Monday.
Seven West Media-owned The West Australian also ran the front page ad on Monday.
Buying a front page advertising slot across the Nine-owned newspapers costs about $20,000, another source with direct knowledge of the commercial details, not authorised to speak publicly, told this masthead.
A spokesperson for Nine said political advertising must adhere to all relevant laws, codes and regulations. “Nine does not align itself to any political party or messaging.”
News Corp did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publishing.
All political advertisements must be approved by ClearAds before publication, a body which ensures advertisements adhere to Australia’s rules and regulations. However, which ads get a run is at the discretion of the media companies.
While advertising heavily, there is currently no polling as yet to suggest the Trumpet of Patriots has attracted any voter support, says Jim Reed from polling firm Resolve.
“This is Palmer’s third party in as many elections, and despite his advertising blitz and big spend, he seems unable to get people elected, or keep them in parliament under his banner. It’s proving to be a very expensive hobby,” Reed added.
In the 2022 election, Palmer’s advertising campaign attracted significant attention, particularly after his party ran ads critical of COVID-19 vaccinations in 2021.
The $100 million outlay resulted in no seats in the lower house, while one senator, Ralph Babet, was elected in Victoria. The Trumpet of Patriots is currently going through its endorsement process, and expects to field a full ticket, running candidates in all 150 seats, as well as three Senate candidates in each state, this masthead was told.
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