Clive Palmer's United Australia Party's (UAP) eye-watering election advertising budget is being used to boost the profiles of several candidates spreading health misinformation, conspiracy theories or who have links to anti-lockdown movements.
It was supposed to be a big week for the mining magnate's party, with multi-page ads featuring the names and phone numbers of 151 UAP candidates printed across Australia's national broadsheet.
The UAP campaign momentum was halted on Tuesday after the unvaccinated UAP chairman displayed COVID-like symptoms, which led to the cancellation of his headline address at the National Press Club at the 11th hour.
Yesterday, the 67-year-old was taken via ambulance to a Gold Coast hospital and went home later that evening.
The UAP has reportedly poured more than $30 million into an aggressive advertising blitz since last August, with the latest splash spent on boosting the profile of its mostly unknown Lower House candidates.
Here's what happened after the ABC tried to call all 151 candidates.
Misinformation spreads among candidates
Three numbers were disconnected, more than half did not answer or return voice mails, and most of those who did pick up referred interview requests and questions from the ABC to the UAP's media manager.
One candidate – who was in the process of clarifying a potential citizenship conflict with the party – said he could not talk as he was yet to read the party's media policy.
An analysis of their digital footprints, however, revealed many of Mr Palmer's picks to run in the election had shared vaccine misinformation or were prominent anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine activists.
A Facebook and Twitter account under the name of Mark Rex — a candidate in the bellwether division of Greenway in Sydney's west — repeatedly posted on his social media accounts about — false — links between the vaccine jab and AIDS as well as conspiracy theories about the pandemic being planned.
This week the account tweeted a NSW health email about HIV from 2019, and wrongly attempted to link it to side effects from COVID-19 vaccines.
A Facebook page under the name of Scott Hardiman — who is running for Kooyong in inner-east Melbourne — shared an article making the inaccurate claim the COVID-19 vaccine caused miscarriages.
All posts on the page were deleted after the ABC contacted him for comment, but the page still displays the UAP banner.
The party's candidate for Paterson in New South Wales, Jason Olbourne, contributes to anti-vaccine website Million Mums and runs his own citizen journalist page where he downplays the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination.
Mr Olbourne also spoke alongside UAP MP Craig Kelly at an anti-mandate rally in Newcastle in December.
Mr Rex and Mr Olbourne referred enquiries to the UAP's head office. Mr Hardiman did not respond to emailed questions.
Other influencers who have joined the UAP's ranks include the candidate for Flinders, Morgan Jonas, who is linked to Reignite Democracy Australia, a driving force behind Australia's anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine protests in Melbourne.
One of RDA's founders, Monica Smit, stands accused of incitement over her alleged role in organising protests in breach of Victoria's lockdown directions.
She pleaded not guilty and will appear in the County Court next month. Mr Jonas is not accused of any wrongdoing.
In May last year, Mr Jonas announced in a Facebook video that RDA would become a political party but the group later announced it would support the UAP.
Aston candidate Rebekah Spelman, a former Frankston councillor, faced criticism in 2015 for attending and voicing support for a far-right rally held by Reclaim Australia.
She told News Corp at the time she did not have racist views.
"The reason I attended the rally is I feel very patriotic and I think Australia is a unique country," she said.
Ms Spelman also recently came under fire after it was reported she had told a 2021 anti-lockdown rally that she wanted to say "hang Dan Andrews", but could not.
She also referred questions to the UAP's media team.
Running in the seat of Werriwa is NSW solicitor Tony Nikolic, who has represented multiple anti-lockdown protesters in their unsuccessful NSW Supreme Court challenges to overturn the state's COVID-19 public health orders.
Associate Professor of Politics at the Australian Catholic University Ben Moffitt said the views represented among some of Mr Palmer's UAP candidates raised concerns when combined with an eye-watering advertising budget.
"The financial backing is the big problem here," he said.
"People are free to run for office, even if their views may be fringe or distasteful. That's a cornerstone of living party democracies. So, if people who don't believe in vaccines want to run for office, that's fine.
"But the difference here is that we have one of the biggest ad budgets in Australian political history backing, broadcasting and amplifying these views."
He said all candidates across all parties needed to denounce political violence.
Several UAP candidates also have had close ties to the mining billionaire's business interests.
These include Palmer's former chief of staff, James McDonald, and Queensland Nickel employee Martin Brewster, both UAP candidates for the Senate.
In the Lower House, the candidate for Ryan, Bernard Wong, appeared to have worked at Palmer's Mineralogy, according to a now-removed LinkedIn page and a Facebook profile.
Calling all 151 candidates
While Mr Palmer has previously denied suggestions that the UAP was an anti-vax party, he has criticised the approval process for the COVID-19 jab and mandates.
Among candidates who spoke to the ABC, many said opposition to vaccine mandates was central to their platform.
Almost every candidate who answered or returned calls said they entered politics because of a frustration with mainstream politics and institutions.
Some expressed their distrust of the media, particularly of the ABC.
Victorian candidates Yassin Albarri and Jefferson Earl — who are running in the Labor seats of Scullin and Macnamara, respectively — both said they were vaccinated but were anti-mandate.
Mr Earl — a businessman and self-described entrepreneur — had been a lifelong Liberal supporter but said he was repulsed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
"I just don't trust them anymore. I used to vote Liberal all the time but I found myself voting for the UAP in 2019," Mr Earl said.
The pandemic response from federal and state governments had also irked the candidate for Hinkler in Queensland, Kristie Nash, who said she "felt seriously betrayed" by the restrictions imposed on businesses.
Ms Nash, who has supported freedom rallies in Bundaberg, said she was one of the many candidates who told the ABC she had been let down by the Coalition.
"I have just felt that everything that the Liberal party stands for over the past two or three years is diminished," she said.
This sentiment was shared by Dean Vegas, an Elvis impersonator, hotelier and candidate for Queensland's seat of Moncrieff, that takes in key central suburbs on the Gold Coast.
"I'm telling everyone in Australia to put [the Liberal Party] last on the list," he said, adding he didn't like Labor or the Greens either.
For some candidates, the split was closer to home.
Peter Campion, the father-in-law of Barnaby Joyce, claimed the Deputy Prime Minister was "not the least bit bothered" by his father-in-law's UAP candidacy for the Queensland seat of Kennedy, held since 1993 by Bob Katter.
Political observers have suggested the UAP is pitching itself to the loosely defined "freedom movement" in Australia.
However, trying to rally them under a unified banner may be like herding cats.
Professor of political science at the Australian National University (ANU) Ian McAllistair said the UAP was a "classic protest party", a means for voters to strike a blow against the major political parties.
He said the UAP was trying to generate support by tapping into vaccine hesitancy and distrust of government, but predicted it would face an uphill battle in the Lower House.
"The history of all these minor parties … is they exist for, maybe, one or two elections and then they disappear," Professor McAllister said.
"The major political parties … adapt and bring those people who defected back into the fold."
Dr Moffit said the government was beginning to reap what they sowed.
"We can't just blame the UAP [for spreading false vaccine science]," he said.
"The Coalition government has done the same thing with taxpayer money in giving George Christensen, Gerard Rennick and Craig Kelly [prior to him leaving the Coalition] a wide berth to spread all kinds of vaccine misinformation.
Pastor and candidate for Corangamite, west of Geelong in Victoria, Daniel Abou-zeid said he was receiving ample support and encouragement from the UAP's head office.
The father-of-five looked forward to meeting Mr Palmer in the coming weeks.
"People have a cartoon image of him," Mr Abou-zeid said.
"He's not flawless by any means but, when I hear him talk, I believe he's genuine."
Not everyone the ABC reached out to had a glowing assessment of the UAP's chairman.
The number printed under West Australian candidate Claire Hand's photo actually belongs to a woman who calls herself Gigi.
"I just want people to stop calling me," she told the ABC.
She opposed Mr Palmer's stance on vaccination and did not believe anyone should vote for him.
"He's a nutter who is not in reality," she said.
The UAP did not respond to the ABC's questions about its candidates nor whether it endorsed their online and offline activities.
