Trumpet of Patriots

Summary

Policies & Commentary

The first thing to notice about the Trumpet of Patriots (hereafter referred to as TOP) is that they appear to have adopted many of US President Donald Trump’s initiatives without hesitation – and, apparently, without much thought. It claims its policies are driven by need and necessity, not ideology, but in reality, ideology is all over its entire agenda.

Clive Palmer, founder and chief bankroller of TOP, confirmed it himself in a media release:

“Australia needs Trump-like policies which only Trumpet of Patriots can deliver,” Mr Palmer said.

That sentiment is echoed by his pick for “Prime Minister”, Suellen Wrightson. Chrys Stevenson at Gladly, the Cross-eyed Bear attempted to do a deep dive on Wrightson, and discovered a disturbing lack of information – and what little she could find had disturbing overtones and implications. Her excellent write-up can be found here.

TOP claims to be fielding candidates in a large number of Lower House electorates. Although I haven’t delved into all of them, I think it’s worth pointing out that Palmer’s earlier ventures into politics have been characterised by similarly large candidates lists, though many of these candidates appear to be placeholders designed purely to create the illusion of a popular grass-roots movement.

But on to the policies.

It kicks off with a promise to establish a Department of Government Efficiency. In Australian political parlance, this is called a razor gang, and TOP wants to aim it at the entirety of the country’s public service. Why? Because, TOP claims, our public service is bloated and wasteful, full of unelected, overpaid bureaucrats who push their personal ideologies on the Australian people. TOP declares that it’s time to drain the swamp.

This is language lifted directly from Project 2025, the playbook currently being used by Trump and his buddy Elon Musk to destroy the US public service. It’s not clear if Clive Palmer sees himself as Australia’s answer to Musk, but it’s hard to discount that idea. Palmer has a long, long history of throwing his money at far-right causes and attempting to rule from behind the throne. I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to suggest that Palmer would very much like to be in charge of this proposed razor gang.

TOP doesn’t give much detail as to where it would make these cuts, but the three examples it does give are telling – Welcome to Country ceremonies, a foreign aid initiative, and government advertising. From the rest of its policies, it’s pretty easy to see what else would be targeted for brutal job cuts and program closures. It’s a policy as ill-thought out as the one being implemented in the US right now, and would have the same catastrophically disruptive effects.

Speaking of the US, TOP is also a big fan of tariffs. Specifically, a 15% tariff on all iron ore exports, which it claims would erase Australia’s debt. You’d have to have been hiding under a rock this past week to have missed the fallout from Trump’s attempt to tax the world (especially the poor penguins), and the explanations of how indiscriminate tariffs are basically a recipe for economic disaster, so I’ll just direct you towards the current news cycle.

Unsurprisingly, immigration is in TOP’s sights. In lockstep with the Liberal Party, it repeats the debunked assertion that Australia is suffering from a housing shortage because we take in too many migrants. Without giving a target, TOP promises to slash immigration, while also shrilling a particularly loud dog whistle. It wants to prioritise migration from nations with compatible values.

What values would those be, exactly, Mr Palmer? No, don’t bother answering, I think we can all guess. White, “Christian”, cis, straight, and at least a little bit racist.

Housing-wise, TOP has adopted the Liberal Party’s “raid your super for a house deposit” policy. There’s been a lot of analysis about this particular idea, and very little of it is supportive. As far back as September last year, economists were warning that raiding super would not only increase house prices, it would materially disadvantage people in regards to their eventual superannuation payout, particularly those who took leave from work to raise families.

Its other proposed way of dealing with the housing situation is to promise – you guessed it – high speed rail! (Drink!) (Just incidentally, I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that TOP’s National Director, Neil Favager, was until very recently the Chief Financial Officer of Rail First Asset Management, which leases locomotives and wagons.)

TOP’s economic policies round off with a love letter to coal-fired power, accusing the Albanese government of deliberate sabotage of existing fossil fuel power in favour of expensive renewables. Suffice it to say that not one claim in that statement is true. It’s not a serious policy. It’s an ideological statement, from the party that claims to abhor ideology.

And speaking of ideology, brace yourselves, because here are the social policies.

Where do I start? How about, firstly, with the blatant attempt to excuse racism on the grounds of “free speech”? TOP has a real hate on for Welcome to Country ceremonies, proclaiming how terrible they are with all the injured dignity of a lord of the manor. How dare these peasants welcome me to my own land?! And how dare anyone dispute my right as a lord to be as rude as I wish? Oh, it’s all disguised as standing up for multiculturalism, but the intent is clear. TOP does not want to be reminded that Indigenous folk were here long before colonists and immigrants decided Australia was a good place to live.

Freedom is also invoked to justify TOP’s stance against Universal Digital ID and Central Bank Digital Currency – neither of which is even being contemplated by either of the major parties. This, like TOP’s promise to remove Australia from the World Economic Fund, the World Health Organisation, and the United Nations, is conspiracy nonsense aimed at capturing the vote of the lunatic fringe.

And then we get to schools, and the (admittedly thin) pretense of reasoned discourse is abandoned altogether. Schools, according to TOP, are hotbeds of far left, woke ideology in dire need of rescue. Unsurprisingly, it has nothing to offer in the way of evidence to back this up – because it’s just not true. The claim that basic literacy and numeracy skills are being sacrificed on the altar of ideology is nonsense, as is the assertion that students are not being taught “real” Australian history. You know, the history that proclaims British colonisation was an unmitigated good that civilised those primitive nomads and that said nomads should be jolly grateful for it.

In case it wasn’t completely clear, a good portion of TOP’s policy agenda revolves around cruelty towards and attempted erasure of Australia’s Indigenous peoples. What’s curious, though, is the other side of TOP’s prejudice and bigotry – hatred and proposed persecution of trans folk – is entirely missing from the policies listed on its website.

When Palmer announced the formation of TOP, he unashamedly parroted Trump’s anti-trans lies, promising to subject trans people to ostracism and punishment for such terrible crimes as wanting to play sport – or, you know, exist. His captain’s pick for Prime Minister, Suellen Wrightson, has used her social media to share anti-trans content from white supremacist website The Noticer. Yet now, as we enter the third week of the campaign, its website is silent on the subject.

I don’t for one moment believe that TOP has quietly shelved this policy. Palmer and his candidates are vocal about their anti-trans ideology (oops there’s that word again), so the absence of this policy on their website smacks of a deliberate attempt to deceive prospective voters into viewing TOP as a party of economic “solutions” only.

In summary, then, TOP’s policies boil down to: lies, damn lies, and racist ideology, with a sprinkle of conspiracy craziness. It’s not worth anyone’s vote. It’s barely worth the time it took me to write this article. In what is increasingly shaping up as a race to the bottom of the ticket, TOP is definitely one of the biggest contenders.

UPDATE:

ABC News reported tonight that Michael Jessop, TOP’s candidate to run against Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton for the seat of Dickson, is currently on bail, facing criminal charges that include stalking and possession of a weapon. Police say Jessop was found to be in possession of weapons, a shovel, axe, gloves, duct tape, ropes and a cadaver bag. Jessop has denied all charges, calling them — without apparent irony — “trumped up”.