Simon says Teals keen for costly minority government

Simon Holmes a Court at the National Press Club, 12 March 2025

From the National Press Club: The disdain for conservatives was palpable in Simon Holmes à Court’s address at the National Press Club in Canberra on March 12. It is interesting that the son of Robert Holmes à Court, Australia’s first billionaire (known as the ‘Great Acquirer’), appears less aggressive in business than he is politics.

Holmes à Court sees the Liberal Party as a great, big ‘carbon bomb’ that will go off if the Coalition are able to form a majority government later this year.

The Teals and the Greens have, in my opinion, the potential to fracture the left much like the conservative parties are fracturing the right. Naturally, both sides of the minor parties are arguing that a minority government is better than the alternative of a Labor or Coalition majority government. Holmes à Court referred to those people who intend to vote outside the two major parties as ‘double haters’ who are likely to bring about a minority government.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Michael de Percy has been down in Canberra keeping an eye on Simon Holmes à Court at the National Press Club. The billionaire green energy enthusiast wasted no time in calling the Coalition the ‘greatest threat to climate action’ and then, bizarrely, took aim at their nuclear plan. Here is what he said…

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Simon says Teals keen for costly minority government.

Trumpet of Patriots announces a Liberal election platform

Clive Palmer addressing the National Press Club of Australia, 13 March 2025

 

From the National Press Club: Clive Palmer’s address on March 13 delivered the first tranche of the Trumpet of Patriot’s election platform. While one regional newspaper took issue with humans being either male or female, conservative voters will find little to disagree with in what is otherwise a common-sense policy platform.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Michael de Percy endured the National Press Club of Australia for a good cause. He was able to put a question to Clive Palmer on the topic of the upcoming Federal Election. Palmer was his usual bombastic self, wasting no time telling the room exactly what he thinks of the politicians in Canberra.

Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

Our Michael de Percy and Clive Palmer are on a unity ticket on one thing; they both lump the Liberal and Labor parties together as the Uniparty. Having heard and questioned Palmer at the National Press Club last week, de Percy came away feeling that Palmer’s platform is far more Menzian than the Liberals’. He worries about the conservative vote being fractured between the Coalition, Palmer and various others, and he’s right. The only way to be sure of beating Labor and its further Left allies is to not to waste primary votes in ‘protest’ at the Liberals’ flabbiness, and use them to ensure that Labor is voted out in May, and not 2028. If that means swallowing hard and voting Liberal or National, don’t rule it out if you’re unhappy with them.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Trumpet of Patriots announces a Liberal election platform.

"Many conservatives appear to be voting with their feet by moving to the conservative minor parties," says @FlaneurPolitiq

My biggest concern with the fracturing of the conservative vote is that it will return Labor to power.

I asked Mr Palmer how Trumpet of Patriots would… pic.twitter.com/Bt1cHoBG5h

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) March 13, 2025

Trump’s ‘art of the deal’ trumps ‘the science’

Trump's art of the deal trumps the science.

Being on the receiving end of a deal with the most powerful person in the world must be quite disarming. Trump was already the ultimate deal-maker. Now as the leader of the free world, his power to make deals is unsurpassed in history. When Trump offers a deal, he starts with an extreme position that drives the experts mad. This is not crazy; it is the art of the deal.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Michael de Percy says we should trust the ‘art of the deal’ over ‘the science’ when it comes to politics. After all, Michael argues, Trump has done more in two months than the experts have in years – which means there must be some wisdom to his actions.

Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

As a political scientist, Michael de Percy is a great admirer of how Donald Trump is doing things, Trump upending all he sees as America’s enemies, both foreign and domestic. De Percy argues that Trump’s love of transactional deal-making, er, trumps evidence-based policy advocated by self-appointed experts. ‘Trump’s art of the deal is the most democratic thing we have seen since “the experts” told us to trust “the science”’, he writes. Some will agree; some will disagree. Certainly, Trump 47’s approach to policy-making and governing is unique. There’s been nothing like him before, and there’ll be nothing like him again.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Trump’s ‘art of the deal’ trumps ‘the science’.

When one observes Trump, one is not observing science, but art.

No expert can tell you what Trump is doing, nor predict the outcome. Trump himself might struggle to tell you how he came to know what he is doing.

He has done in less than two months what thousands of experts… pic.twitter.com/FGwvpsXOKH

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) March 10, 2025