An Australian Billionaire Politician Is Suing Rupert Murdoch For Defamation, Claims Wendi Murdoch Is A Chinese Spy

Australian billionaire businessman Clive Palmer, whose Palmer United Party (PUP) is running in the upcoming federal election, said on Thursday (September 5) he intended to sue Rupert Murdoch's newspaper, The Australian.

Palmer said he was suing Murdoch over an article which questions Palmer's claims of wealth, being a mining magnate and a university professor, and whether voters should enable Palmer to gain "great political power," local media said.

"Rupert Murdoch will be sued by me today and he'll be brought to Australia to answer these questions in theSupreme Court. It's time that this fellow was brought to account, this foreigner that tries to dictate what we do," Palmer said on the Seven Network's Sunrise programme.

The broadsheet is backing conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott to win the election and said it had spent months examining Palmer's track record.

Palmer also appeared on the Nine Network's Today Show and accused Murdoch's estranged wife, Wendy Deng, of being a spy for China.

"You know, Rupert Murdoch's wife, Wendi Deng, is a Chinese spy and that's been right across the world. She's been spying on Rupert for years giving money back to Chinese intelligence. Read the truth about it. She was trained in southern China. I'm telling you the truth. Wendi Deng is a Chinese spy, that's why Rupert Murdoch got rid of her, and that's the truth. This guy wants to control Australian politics," Palmer told Today Show host, Karl Stephanovic.

Palmer has predicted that his PUP will win 10 seats in Saturday's (September 7) election, local media reported.