Malcolm Turnbull?: “I don’t think he’s got a hope in hell”
Marsha Foxman has been declareda candidate for mining magnate Clive Palmer’s Palmer United Party and will challenge incumbent Malcolm Turnbull for the Sydney Liberal seat of Wentworth, home to many of the city’s Jewish community in the upcoming September federal election.
The 60-yr-old mother of a 16-yr-old daughter said that people had been asking her up until yesterday “Do you really think you can beat Malcolm Turnbull?” She said: “I would reply that I would give him a real run for his money but after today I don’t think he’s got a hope in hell.”
J-Wire asked what happened today. She responded: “It was revealed that the honesty, the forthrightness and integrity would be overturning a corrupt system. We need to turn back the tide of political corruption…that’s what Clive Palmer is doing…that’s what every Australian wants and that’s why I’m here. I have to get out there and fight the injustice.”
It was pointed out to Foxman that Palmer is a huge business in his own right. She responded: “He doesn’t want his iron ore processed overseas…he wants it processed here.”
Clive Palmer and Marsha Foxman pix: Henry Benjamin
Foxman told J-Wire that part of the grand scheme would be to remove lobbyists from the Canberra scene. She said: “Mr Palmer made it clear that if he wanted something changed in legislation he would pay his million dollars…one for Labor and for one Liberal and the people in the back room would make it happen. Mr and Mrs average Australian can not get a fair deal when you have the corporations pulling strings like that. There is no level playing fields in our business world. When I was a retailer I was paying ten times more rental than the K-Marts, Woolworths and other giant retailers. I ran “Mostly Movies” and “Videoland” within what was then Grace Brothers. Because of the complacency of the government to regulate fair trading, I ended up with a situation where I would earn 25% profit on best-selling titles and the majors would sell the same product for cost plus five cents using our bread and butter as a loss leader. They also got rebates unavailable to us. I believe Clive Palmer intends to see manufacturing brought back to Australia from China and he wants to invest in local production together with increasing local agricultural interests.”
On health she said that Palmer had plans to improve the health service adding that he would reconstruct the bureaucracy from the bottom up.
Asylum seekers is high on the Palmer agenda. Foxman said that Palmer’s plan is to have asylum-seekers jet into Australia holding valid passports and would be allowed in after being processed at the airports but deported should they be unable to prove their status.
She added that Palmer would dump the carbon tax and would reimburse all tax already paid.
Marsha Foxman with husband Joe Weinstein
On the subject of the electorate of Wentworth itself, Foxman said she planned to set up committees to deal with local issues such as parking, transport, infrastructure. I want to approach locals with vested interest and get their ideas and encapsulate them in a plan I can take to Federal government.
Foxman is the only Jewish candidate a fact Clive Palmer is aware of. “I have already been asked what my plans are for election day. Well let me tell you I will be davening…this Party needs every brocha it can get.”
The party was established a couple of months ago with plans to call it The United Australia Party. Foxman said: “To do that would have involved a three month court process…so it became the Palmer United Party.”
Foxman said that all the Palmer United candidates shared their founder’s view that none of the existing political parties is viable. She said: “They are totally defunct with egotistical self-interests which are counter-productive. That’s why I’m here.”
For Foxman it is now down to business and getting together a team of thirty helpers.
Jim Macanally said the party was still looking for suitable candidates in Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia and Victoria. Personal wealth is not an issue. Want to stand? Clive Palmer will finance any suitable candidate. He said that Japan has a higher standard of living than Australia and that part of their wealth had been established from the use of Australian iron ore. Surely we are clever enough to do this in our own country ourselves. We’re going to make sure that happens.”
We’re looking at going back to a time when politicians were representing the people of Australia for the betterment of those people. We want to make Australia the lucky country that it used to be and that’s the reason we’re here.”
Foxman’s husband Joe Weinstein is here too and will will do all he can to make his wife’s first political campaign a success.
Well, it’s pretty clear she’s an excellent Clive Candidate: as detached from reality as he is.
Is it Purim once again or April Fools day?