Trumpet of Patriots Candidate Pulls Plug on Campaign After Palmer Preferences Teals

Smith is asking voters to put him last on the ballot.

Party Chairman Clive Palmer during the Trumpet of Patriots’ National Launch ahead of the 2025 federal election campaign in Sunshine Coast, Australia, on April 19, 2025. AAP Image/Danny Casey

A Trumpet of Patriots candidate has urged voters to put him last at the federal election in protest of mining billionaire Clive Palmer preferencing a “Teal” candidate ahead of conservative candidates.

Chaired by Palmer, Trumpet of Patriots recently confirmed it would be preferencing the major parties Labor and Liberals last in all seats.

Candidate for Flinders, Jason Smart, pulled the plug on his campaign after he was blindsided by the decision to preference Climate 200-backed Teal Independent candidate Ben Smith.

“My wife and I have been sitting here at home in utter disbelief since Friday morning. I was given an undertaking by Clive Palmer and the Trumpet of Patriots that if I ran as a candidate for them, that the Teal/Labor/Greens candidates would be last on the How to Vote card. I only agreed to run on that basis,” he said on Facebook.

Smart is unable to officially withdraw at this stage of the campaign due to election rules, so he is instead asking voters to put him last on the ballot.

The seat of Flinders, located in Victoria, is also being contested by the Liberals, Labor, Greens, One Nation, Smith, and independent Joseph Toscano.

The Climate 200 movement is confident they are competitive in Flinders in Victoria and are also backing 35 candidates across the country.

Smart said a vote for the Trumpet of Patriots was a “vote for the Teals,” and he would not stand for it.

He met with One Nation candidate Mike Brown and will assist him going forward.

“A conservative government with One Nation/Liberals going forward is the best outcome for our nation, and I will assist them to achieve that with my integrity intact,” he said.

“Youth crime, cost of living, immigration, and power prices are all issues that impact on families and businesses right around the country, and Mike Brown of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, has been transparent and upfront with the Australian people about their desire to see the back of Albanese.”

The federal election is due to be held on May 3, with early voting already underway after pre-poll booths opened on April 22.

The Epoch Times has contacted Trumpet of Patriots for comment.

Liberal and Labor Last

Trumpet of Patriots is promising to “make Australia great,” echoing U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign.

Palmer said his party would place the major parties last in all seats to end the “two-party duopoly.”

He claimed they were the same “99 percent of the time.”

“We will place Labor and the Liberals last in the seats they hold to shake up the status quo and bring common sense policies to fix this great country,” he said.

“They don’t really dislike each other. It’s a case of you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. That’s why we’ve had a uni-party for many years and that’s why we are going backwards.”

Trumpet of Patriots is proposing to make dramatic cuts to immigration and end government debt by placing a 15 percent licence fee on iron ore exports from Australia.

“We will cut immigration by 80 percent. In February alone, an alarming 200,000 visas were approved. Excessive, unmanaged, and unplanned immigration is destroying our infrastructure, housing, schools, hospitals and communities,” Palmer said.

“It is much better that the Chinese pay off our debt than we do. We have Chinese warships off our coast, and Australia wants to fight with our major ally, the U.S., over tariffs.”

Meanwhile, Trumpet of Patriots is also claiming their how-to-vote cards have been “tampered with” and has launched an investigation.

“It has become apparent that a number of our how-to-vote cards have been interfered with,” Palmer said on April 22.

“This incident has not happened in isolation, as we have been hacked and had our communications interfered with on previous occasions. We will be conducting a full investigation into the matter.”