Clive’s cameo: The unlikely guest at the Nationals’ gala dinner

Once a Nat, always a Nat. That was one of the explanations offered up to us when we asked people close to the Nationals’ leadership why billionaire Clive Palmer made a cameo at the party’s federal conference festivities in Canberra at the weekend.

Heading into Saturday, all eyes were on whom the party would appoint as its next national director. That job ended up going to Tim Dixon , a lawyer and former trade adviser who has been working as the deputy director of the NSW Nationals since January.

But it was Palmer’s appearance at the party’s Saturday evening dinner, relayed to CBD by two sources briefed on the event, that caught our attention.

The mining magnate is worth about $19.55 billion, according to The Australian Financial Review’s Rich List, and has made no secret of his intentions to run for office in the Queensland electorate of Fadden at the 2028 federal election.

After the unmitigated disaster of his Trump-inspired “Trumpet of Patriots” rebrand, which Palmer abandoned for a return to his “United Australia Party” political party earlier this year, we couldn’t help wondering whether the serial litigant is trying to strengthen ties to his former party.

He was seen rubbing shoulders with Nationals leader Matt Canavan and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor at Saturday night’s gala dinner, where guests were treated to a performance from country musician Lee Kernaghan . But Palmer’s visit was nothing more than a friendly show of support, according to a source close to the billionaire.

Others at the dinner included former prime minister John Howard , along with former defence minister and opposition leader Brendan Nelson , and Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro , who sat beside Taylor.

AFL chairman Craig Drummond has had a shocker week or two as he and the club he is former president of, Geelong, sought to manage the Jake Kolodjashnij concussion waiver crisis .

However, some consolation for Drummond, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, would be the $705,000 annual pay packet he receives via one of his lucrative side hustles as chairman of the $45 billion toll-road operator Transurban.

Drummond’s payday was revealed on Thursday as the company, which runs CityLink and the new West Gate Tunnel in Melbourne, unveiled its 2026 financial results, headlined by a $432 million profit – more than double what it made the year before.

Drummond has enjoyed a sweet pay rise from the $688,000 he received in 2025, despite traffic numbers for the $10.2 billion West Gate Tunnel being underwhelming.

The tunnel, a signature project of the state Labor government, opened to traffic in mid-December. Alas, since then, Melburnians haven’t exactly embraced their shiny new road.

On average, only about 36,000 daily trips are being made on the WGT, which takes in the tunnel itself as well as heavy vehicles that cross the West Gate Bridge and now pay a toll.

That number has been flat since the opening and compares with 837,000 daily trips on CityLink.