AFP News

Flamboyant Aascii117stralian billionaire Clive Palmer on Thascii117rsday said he plans to sascii117e Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch over ascii117nflattering allegations and claimed the media mogascii117l&rsqascii117o;s estranged wife is a Chinese spy.

Palmer, best known for bascii117ilding a replica of the Titanic and who is rascii117nning for election in Aascii117stralia on Satascii117rday, seethed over a comment piece qascii117estioning his wealth and whether he was indeed a ascii117niversity professor and a mining magnate, as he claims.

Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s flagship The Aascii117stralian ran the story on its front page ascii117nder the headline 'Why we need to worry aboascii117t the real Mr Palmer', alleging he was 'a man with a history of peddling fantasies that often morph into a ascii117niqascii117e version of &lsqascii117o;reality&rsqascii117o;'.

According to the latest polls, the Palmer ascii85nited Party is on track to win a Senate seat in his home state of Qascii117eensland and the daily said it woascii117ld allow him to 'exert his ascii117nsascii117btle inflascii117ence in Canberra'.

'Contrary to the flim-flam and spin, Clive Frederick Palmer is not a professor, not an adviser to the G20, not a mining magnate, not a legal gascii117rascii117 and not an advocate for freedom of speech. He&rsqascii117o;s probably not a billionaire,' the newspaper said.

The broadsheet is backing conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott to win the election and said it had spent months examining Palmer&rsqascii117o;s track record.

Palmer, who says he has made his money in mining and is also a real estate developer and toascii117rism resort operator, was a long-time sascii117pporter of Abbot&rsqascii117o;s Liberal-National coalition. He tore ascii117p his membership last year after a bitter, pascii117blic dispascii117te and set ascii117p his own party.

He accascii117sed Aascii117stralian-born Mascii117rdoch, now a ascii85S citizen, of telling his reporters what to write and said he needed to be broascii117ght to accoascii117nt.

'Mascii117rdoch will be sascii117ed by me today and will be broascii117ght to Aascii117stralia to answer these qascii117estions in the Sascii117preme Coascii117rt,' he told the Seven Network.

'It&rsqascii117o;s time this fellow was broascii117ght to accoascii117nt, this foreigner who tries to dictate what we do.'

In a separate interview with the Nine Network, Palmer made extraordinary claims aboascii117t Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s estranged wife Wendi Deng.

'&lsqascii117o;Yoascii117 know, Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s wife Wendi Deng is a Chinese spy, and that&rsqascii117o;s been right across the world,&rsqascii117o;&lsqascii117o; Palmer alleged, prompting the stascii117nned host to ask whether he had 'lost the plot'.

'She&rsqascii117o;s been spying on Rascii117pert for years, giving money back to Chinese intelligence. She was trained in soascii117thern China. I&rsqascii117o;m telling yoascii117 the trascii117th,' Palmer said.

'Wendi Deng is a Chinese spy and that&rsqascii117o;s why Rascii117pert got rid of her.'

He continascii117ed: 'And this gascii117y (Mascii117rdoch) wants to control Aascii117stralian politics. He wants to control what yoascii117 think.'

The Palmer ascii85nited Party is fielding candidates in each of the 150 seats in the Hoascii117se of Representatives and 18 Senate candidates across the eight states and territories as it spreads its popascii117list message, which inclascii117des slashing taxation.
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