Right-leaning voters in Australia should not turn to One Nation despite their surging popularity in recent polls, colourful businessman and former political rival Clive Palmer says.
The one-time member for Fairfax on Queensland's Sunshine Coast says the party led by Pauline Hanson is not a long-term alternative for Australian voters.
"One Nation's not the answer for Australia, because One Nation is a protest party," Mr Palmer told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
"They can tell you what's wrong, but they can't tell you how to fix it. They can't give you a solution."
The 71-year-old billionaire weighed in on the current political sphere as he revealed a $1 million donation to hunger charity Foodbank Australia.
When asked how parties should be connecting with voters, the former MP touted two unlikely bedfellows as the model for the major parties to follow.
The Nationals and teal independents share the common denominator of representing the interests of the communities they serve, he said.
Responding to Mr Palmer, a One Nation spokesman claimed the billionaire had tried to buy the party.
"Clive Palmer didn't seem to have any problem with One Nation when he offered millions of dollars to buy the party before the federal election ... and then discovered that One Nation isn't for sale," the spokesman told AAP.
He referred to the party's policies as evidence of solutions.
Mr Palmer's Foodbank donation follows a $5 million donation to the charity a year earlier.
But both pale against the extraordinary $134 million Palmer's company Mineralogy has pumped into his political party, the United Australia Party since 2019.
That figure is set to rise further once donation returns covering the 2025 election are released on Monday.
Mr Palmer, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $5.5 billion, has not ruled out another election tilt.
But he admits feeling less in touch with the community as he ages.
"I don't know whether I can understand as much the feelings of someone at 30 or their aspirations at 40," he said.
"There are better people than me that can help the community."
By putting the spotlight on Foodbank, he hopes to pressure other public figures to give more for struggling families.
One in five households earning more than $91,000 report worrying about putting food on their table, the charity says.
"He's raising the profile," Foodbank chairman Duncan Makeig said.
"He's challenging you all to do what you can to put some pressure on those politicians."
A tax incentive to divert waste from food growers to charities like Foodbank was touted by a group of independent MPs in October.
It's estimated enough food to fill the MCG nine times over is thrown away by farmers and growers each year.
