United Australia Party chairman Clive Palmer has pulled out of a major speech after displaying “COVID-like symptoms”.
The National Press Club advised of the last-minute cancellation on its website on Tuesday morning.
“The NPC has just been informed that Clive Palmer has been directed not to travel due him showing Covid-like symptoms,” it said.
Mr Palmer was due to give a speech at 12.30pm about where he believed the Australian economy was heading and outlining the financial policies of the UAP.
Mr Palmer’s address had been mired in controversy after it was revealed the ABC had opted not to broadcast it live – as it usually does for National Press Club speeches.
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The editorial decision was reportedly due to concerns over Mr Palmer’s views about COVID vaccines.
Instead, the address was planned to be aired on a 90-minute delay at 2pm.
Mr Palmer told an anti-lockdown rally in November: “I’m not vaccinated and I don’t intend to be.”
The mining billionaire is leading the UAP’s Queensland Senate ticket, nine years after he was elected as a one-time lower house MP to the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax.
Earlier this year, the 67-year-old said he would run the “largest and most extensive political campaign” in the nation’s history.
