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Quarterly Essay #56
Clivosaurus: The Politics of Clive Palmer
Who is Clive Palmer, and what does his ascent say about Australia’s creaking political system?
In Clivosaurus, Guy Rundle observes Palmer close up, examining his rise to prominence, his beliefs, his deals and his politics – not to mention his poetry. Rundle shows that neither the government nor the media have been able to take Palmer’s measure. Convinced they face a self-interested clown, they have failed to recognise both his tactical flexibility and the consistency of his centre-right politics.
This is a story about the Gold Coast, money in politics, Canberra’s detached political caste and the meaning of Palmer’s motley crew. Above all, it is a brilliantly entertaining portrait of “the man at the centre of a perfect storm for Australian democracy, a captain steering his vessel artfully in the whirlpool.”
“In the first half of the year we saw Tony Abbott treated with deference to his values and beliefs, as his chaotic and lying government slid from one side of the ring to the other, while Clive Palmer, ploughing a steady course on a range of key issues, was treated as the inconstant one. No wonder no one could tell what he was going to do next – they weren’t even bothering to look at where he had come from.” – Guy Rundle, Clivosaurus
In Clivosaurus, Guy Rundle observes Palmer close up, examining his rise to prominence, his beliefs, his deals and his politics – not to mention his poetry. Rundle shows that neither the government nor the media have been able to take Palmer’s measure. Convinced they face a self-interested clown, they have failed to recognise both his tactical flexibility and the consistency of his centre-right politics.
This is a story about the Gold Coast, money in politics, Canberra’s detached political caste and the meaning of Palmer’s motley crew. Above all, it is a brilliantly entertaining portrait of “the man at the centre of a perfect storm for Australian democracy, a captain steering his vessel artfully in the whirlpool.”
“In the first half of the year we saw Tony Abbott treated with deference to his values and beliefs, as his chaotic and lying government slid from one side of the ring to the other, while Clive Palmer, ploughing a steady course on a range of key issues, was treated as the inconstant one. No wonder no one could tell what he was going to do next – they weren’t even bothering to look at where he had come from.” – Guy Rundle, Clivosaurus
116 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 23, 2020
Apart from Clive Palmer, also a good explanation of the Australian political system and conventions (such as when Parliament should support the government’s mandate after winning election).
December 17, 2014
Rundle's portrayal of the complex Clive Palmer is lively, irreverent, opinionated and thought-provoking, a bit like Palmer himself. As well as teasing out Palmer's belief's and political motivations, Rundle offers some penetrating comments on the present state of Australian politics and the discomforts caused the stolid two-party system by the election of independent and small party candidates to the national upper house, the Senate, which is elected by proportional voting with complex preference allocations. Over the last two governments (Labor then coalition conservative Liberal) this has meant that governments have had to negotiate with individual senators to get legislation passed, and the Abbott Liberal government has so far been spectacularly bad at it. Clive Palmer, the very large and immensely rich man who heads the small, new Palmer United Party, is playing a key role in this and seems to be enjoying it hugely (yes, that's deliberate). Rundle remarks (p55) 'clive is not a cause of our current fractured politics,: he is one its most spectacular effects.
Rundle places Palmer as a product of Queensland's gold Coast, where fortunes are made out of land speculation and development, creating something out of nothing, always looking for an opportunity, a 'natural wheeler-dealer'. Palmer grew up a Catholic, and Rundle sees a consistent concern for social justice underlying Palmer's rejection of socially brutal aspects of the coalition budget and other measures as stemming from that background.
Palmer has been ridiculed, dismissed and attacked by the Murdoch press in particular, and mostly ignored by the Fairfax Press. Rundle refers scathingly to the Parliament House press gallery and associated commentators as 'the commentarial', which conveys some idea of the the closed, self-feeding world of the political journalists, themselves part of the national political caste isolated from the rest of the country in Canberra.
As this issue went to press, Palmer was facing court action for fraudulent use of money paid to one of his companies by a Chinese company but used to fund election expenses. Rundle mentions this in passing. Perhaps the progress of the case/s and their outcomes will be the subject of a future Essay?
The correspondence in this issue of Quarterly Essay has excellent contributions from half a dozen thinkers on Noel Pearson's 'A Rightful Place', which is my next read in this territory - I'm a bit out of sync with issues.
Rundle places Palmer as a product of Queensland's gold Coast, where fortunes are made out of land speculation and development, creating something out of nothing, always looking for an opportunity, a 'natural wheeler-dealer'. Palmer grew up a Catholic, and Rundle sees a consistent concern for social justice underlying Palmer's rejection of socially brutal aspects of the coalition budget and other measures as stemming from that background.
Palmer has been ridiculed, dismissed and attacked by the Murdoch press in particular, and mostly ignored by the Fairfax Press. Rundle refers scathingly to the Parliament House press gallery and associated commentators as 'the commentarial', which conveys some idea of the the closed, self-feeding world of the political journalists, themselves part of the national political caste isolated from the rest of the country in Canberra.
As this issue went to press, Palmer was facing court action for fraudulent use of money paid to one of his companies by a Chinese company but used to fund election expenses. Rundle mentions this in passing. Perhaps the progress of the case/s and their outcomes will be the subject of a future Essay?
The correspondence in this issue of Quarterly Essay has excellent contributions from half a dozen thinkers on Noel Pearson's 'A Rightful Place', which is my next read in this territory - I'm a bit out of sync with issues.
November 30, 2014
Very interesting analysis of Clive Palmer and the state of Australian democracy. I thought the beginning of the essay (first ~30 pages) was a bit all over the place and wayward, hence why this loses 1 star. However the remainder of the essay was extremely thought-provoking and insightful. Well worth a read if you want to cut through the typical media rubbish and get to the heart of Palmer's political stance, and his place in the system.
November 20, 2014
Another excellent Quarterly Essay by Rundle, this one looking at the life and political beliefs of Clive Palmer, and making a convincing case that the cartoon figure portrayed by the media does not represent the real man. Fascinating stuff.
November 20, 2014
A fascinating account, not only of Clive, but of Queensland and Australia's broken electoral system.
Want to read
February 20, 2018I usually find the essay rigourous , but while the subject was intriguing, it was hardly forensic. much was quoted from Biograpy, which was noted, but felt like writing that told nothing new.
March 25, 2015
Funny that in some ways, a few months later this essay is almost obsolete. The Palmer party has been falling apart spectacularly.
December 30, 2015
Interesting perspective on the big man. While I had never considered many of the author's propositions, he explains them all very clearly so I can see why he believes them.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews