Clive Palmer has launched his election campaign under his rebranded United Australia Party at an extraordinary press conference at Parliament House, which was cut short when the courtyard's sprinkler system suddenly turned on.
Senator Brian Burston has joined Mr Palmer's party and will become its first sitting representative, just a week after quitting One Nation and just hours after telling the Senate he would sit as an independent.
Senator Burston claimed he only decided to join the group at "around 10.30 this morning".
Mr Palmer said he would not run in the Senate himself but may attempt to win a seat in the Lower House, as he did in 2013. The party is hoping to contest the next federal election with candidates in every seat.
Mr Palmer said Brian Burston had shown courage by standing by his promise to support the government's company tax cuts, despite One Nation declaring its opposition.
"I think the nation at the moment needs to have more and more assistance and capital released into the economy," Mr Palmer said.
Labor MP Cathy O'Toole showed up at Mr Palmer's press conference, asking the mining magnate to explain how he could afford a major political comeback when hundreds of former employees of his Queensland Nickel refinery were still owed wages.
Mr Palmer said the liquidators of his company, which collapsed in 2016, were to blame.
"It is not my responsibility to pay the people's bills," he said.
The press conference was called off when the sprinkler system in the Senate courtyard suddenly turned on, spraying Mr Palmer and the assembled media.
"We've got to call it quits," Mr Palmer said, as he and Senator Burston left the conference.
Senator Burston finally quit One Nation last week after a public feud with leader Pauline Hanson, declaring he would sit as an independent in the Senate.
Clive Palmer has long promised a second tilt at federal politics, with large billboards in Sydney and Melbourne bearing the slogan “Make Australia Great”.
Clive Palmer has renamed his political party to make a tilt at the next election. Source: AAP
Mr Palmer arrived at Parliament House around 8.30am on Monday morning, ahead of his campaign launch. SBS News understands Senator Burston’s staff met Mr Palmer’s staff on their arrival.
Senator Burston was one of three Upper House members who were called upon to update their party affiliation in the chamber on Monday morning. Steve Martin declared his new allegiance to the Nationals and Fraser Anning officially joined Bob Katter's party.
Senator Burston said he would sit as an independent "as of this day forward", before announcing he had joined Mr Palmer's party just hours later.
Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said the Coalition would continue negotiating with every member of the crossbench to secure the passage of its company tax cuts, which are yet to secure sufficient support in the Senate.
"As far as Mr Palmer is concerned, I guess all I can say is we have seen that film before," Mr Turnbull said.
The Palmer United Party won one Lower House seat and three Senate seats in the 2013 federal election, which gave the party substantial power on the crossbench. It added another Senate seat in WA following a recount.
But the party later disintegrated, with some original members like Jacqui Lambie going on to form independent political movements.
The party no longer has any elected members, and Clive Palmer did not contest the last federal election in 2016.
Mr Palmer is still embroiled in a long-running legal dispute over the future of his company Queensland Nickel, which collapsed in 2016 owing hundreds of millions in debts. Hundreds lost their jobs.
Labor MP Cathy O'Toole said Mr Palmer's political campaign was an "enormous slap in the face to the people in my community".
"We have workers who still don't have a secure full-time job," she said.
"If Clive Palmer has the money to establish his political party again he can pay the workers in my community their entitlements."
