Clive Palmers wife has been appointed deputy leader of his United Australia party in Queensland just two days after announcing she would run as a candidate in the state election.
Anna Palmer was revealed as the UAP candidate for Currumbin on Friday, a month out from polling day. The Gold Coast seat is held by the Liberal National partys Laura Gerber on a slim a 1.2% margin.
Labor had been considering targeting Currumbin but Palmers intervention could throw a spanner in the works as the major parties fight for regional votes.
The Queensland UAP leader, Greg Dowling, said on Sunday the party executive had unanimously endorsed Anna Palmer for the deputy position.
She said Queenslanders needed a new deal. We need to cut the red tape, eliminate payroll tax and eliminate land tax to make our state stronger, Anna Palmer said in a statement.
Palmer said she was angry with the Labor governments handling of compassionate exemptions to its Covid-19 border restrictions. As a mother, I am appalled with how the current Queensland Labor government is treating families, she said.
Anna Palmer unsuccessfully sought preselection for her husbands party for the Gold Coast seat of Gaven in 2014.
She gave $330,000 to the Nationals while her husband was seeking to re-enter federal parliament in 2019 with a preference deal between his United Australia party and the Liberal-National Coalition.
John Wanna, the former Sir John Bunting chair of public administration at the Australian National University, told Guardian Australia on Saturday that UAP was basically a sham party built around Clive Palmer with little grassroots involvement.
Many of the candidates are his employees and people he knows, Wanna said.
At last years federal election, almost 40% of Palmers candidates did not live in the seat where they were standing.
Martin Brewster, Palmers nephew and the procurement director of Queensland Nickel, is standing again for the party. Other candidates include Palmers father-in-law, Alexandar Sokolov, his brother-in-law, Gueorgui Sokolov, and his former bodyguard Andrew Rockliff.
Asked about the accusation that the United Australia party was a sham, Palmers spokesman sent a brief reply: What rubbish. Queenslanders go to the polls on 31 October.
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