1 day Ago By The Guardian
Australians have been infuriated this election cycle, yet again , by a deluge of unsolicited text messages from a political party associated with Clive Palmer. “You don’t need to be welcomed to your own country, 3% home loans Vote 1 Trumpet of Patriots,” some of the texts read. The messages have been authorised by a “H Fong” for Trumpet of Patriots – Palmer’s latest venture – but who is the man behind the texts? On the party’s website, Harry Fong is described as Trumpet of Patriots’ lead Senate candidate for Queensland and a “highly respected barrister with extensive experience in criminal law, civil litigation [and] dispute resolution”.
“For too long, Australians have been trapped under a political duopoly where Labor and Liberal make backroom deals that serve themselves rather than the people,” the website says. Related: Why am I getting Trumpet of Patriots ‘spam’ text messages? Are they legal – and can I stop them? Fed-up Australians found barrister Harry Fong listed on the Queensland Bar website, and documented their efforts on social media to flood the listed mobile number with messages of their own. The website entry has been removed in recent days, website archives show, and on Wednesday the number didn’t ring.
In an email response to Guardian Australia, Fong said the flurry of text messages had “unfortunately killed the battery of my mobile”. He confirmed he had authorised the messages but had not personally sent them. “I did not send out the Trumpet of Patriots messages (that is the misconception of everyone),” he said.
Questioned on whether the party uses an auto-number generator to send the texts, Fong said that was “beyond my knowledge”. And as to why his name was used to authorise the messages, he said he didn’t know why. “[Maybe] because my name is shorter than the rest,” he speculated.
In 2020, Fong gave an interview to the Lunching with Lawyers podcast , in which he described meeting Palmer as a law student at the University of Queensland. “I got to like Clive. He was very political at that time and he was the one who got me into the public defender’s office,” Fong said on the podcast.
“And I coined the phrase ‘Clive alive in 75’ because ...
75 is when he got kicked out and he started doing real estate. Now he’s a multimillionaire.” During the episode, Fong also said Clive had asked him to run for the Senate – an invitation he said he knocked back at the time due to political differences.
Related: Australian election 2025 mini and micro party guide: how to avoid a Senate vote you might regret “I did get asked to run for the Senate again by Clive,” he said. “I declined, primarily because my values and Clive’s values may not necessarily be the same. “I respect him as a person.
I respect his ideas in many respects but I have some principles that I must stick by. And so ultimately, I’m very much a social democrat, Liberal, Labor person.” Asked about those comments, Fong told Guardian Australia he knew Palmer well.
“We don’t always agree but with respect to our party policies they are very sound,” he said, pointing to stances that include dramatically reducing immigration and respecting the flag – “Many Aussies fought for that liberty”. “My party, and I, are not racists,” Fong said. “I am a fourth generation Australian of Chinese descent.
One side came here in 1872, the other side came earlier. It is extraordinary that people still call me Chinese. Two of my uncles fought for Australia in World War 2.
“Some text messages suggest I am a racist because I support the Australian flag. I do think the Welcome to Country ceremony is overused.” Ultimately, the Trumpet of Patriots texts are completely legal – Australian political parties are exempt from privacy laws and anti-spam rules.
Palmer’s latest venture has churned through about $4.5m on Google ads during the election period, according to the Populares AdTracker, and is the third-highest spender on Facebook behind only the Labor party and Australian Electoral Commission. The Bar Association of Queensland did not return a request for comment about why Fong’s listing had been removed from its website.
Fong told Guardian Australia it had been removed “temporarily”..
