LOOK out Canberra. Clive Palmer is heading to federal parliament after a recount affirmed he had won the Queensland seat of Fairfax.
The flamboyant businessman who invested millions in his startup Palmer United Party will be joined by at least two senators, capping the strongest debut in contemporary politics since One Nation had its brief moment in the sun at the state level in Queensland in 1998.
While acknowledging the result of the recount, Queensland's Liberal National Party is keeping its options open to mount a court challenge to Mr Palmer's election.
Accusing PUP of drawing out the recount, LNP state director Brad Henderson said a petition to the Court of Disputed Returns could be lodged within 40 days of the poll being declared.
"Given the sheer scale of this process in terms of the number and nature of challenges and determinations made, the LNP will now take some time to consider its position," Mr Henderson said.
For now, attention will likely turn to the statement of pecuniary interests required of MPs and senators, which promises to provide new insight into Mr Palmer's personal wealth.
His claim to be the $6 billion man is contested, with Forbes magazine putting his wealth at $895 million as of last January.
When he takes his place in parliament in a fortnight, Mr Palmer will have the added distinction of holding its most marginal seat after winning by only 53 votes.
"I'm looking forward to making a positive contribution to the battle of ideas in Canberra," Mr Palmer said last night.
The marathon recount extended his winning margin from 36 to 53 over the LNP's Ted O'Brien.
The process was fraught for the Australian Electoral Commission which faced scathing criticism from Mr Palmer. His party challenged a record 50,099 of the 89,176 ballots cast in Fairfax, pushing the duration of the recount to an unprecedented eight weeks.
Mr Palmer will be joined in parliament from next July by incoming PUP senators Glenn Lazarus, the rugby league great who won in Queensland, and Tasmanian Jacqui Lambie.
In Western Australia, PUP frontrunner Zhenya Wang remains on tenterhooks, along with incumbent Green Scott Ludlam, with their battle for the final senate spot potentially to be decided by a court or even a new election after the AEC yesterday admitted losing nearly 1400 previously counted ballot papers.
Senator Ludlam made a barbed reference to Mr Palmer's wealth in congratulating him on being elected. "Good for him," he told Sky News. "He won a . . . fair election. I wish I had a billion to spend on my campaign."
Mr Palmer, 59, has a strong political pedigree, having served as spokesman to Queensland's longest-serving premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, in the late 1980s and then becoming a financial backer of the LNP. A life member of the National Party, he stormed out of the LNP last year after falling out bitterly with Tony Abbott and Queensland Premier Campbell Newman.
Relations between Mr Palmer and the state LNP government remain poisonous. Recently, he claimed to have evidence of corruption among unnamed state ministers.
The Prime Minister will ultimately need the support of the PUP to meet his election commitments to abolish the carbon and mining taxes.
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