Clive Palmer wins Fairfax after marathon recount Clive Palmer has won the hotly contested Queensland seat of Fairfax after a marathon recount was finalised on Thursday. But the saga may not be over yet, with the Liberal National Party already flagging a possible appeal to the Court of Disputed Returns. Canberra-bound: Clive Palmer secures Fairfax after recount. Photo: Eddie Jim The Palmer United Party leader extended his lead over LNP candidate Ted O'Brien to win by 53 votes. In an interview with ABC's 7.30 program, Mr Palmer implied he planned to use parliamentary privilege to reveal damaging information about Queensland's Newman government. The founder of the Palmer United Party, which is set to hold the balance-of-power in the Senate, said he had "40 or 50" company directorships and owed 15-20 properties but denied he would have a conflict of interest. "As a Member of Parliament you don't have a conflict of interest; only if you're a minister," he said. Not me," Mr Palmer said when asked about the size of the loss. At the end of the first count Mr Palmer was only seven votes ahead, which led to an automatic recount given the small margin between the two candidates. The recount, which began on October 3, has dragged on after more than half of the 89,176 votes were challenged, mostly by PUP scrutineers. The Australian Electoral Commission will officially declare the result on Friday. Mr O'Brien said he was grateful to Fairfax voters for entrusting him with 41 per cent of the primary vote, compared with Mr Palmer's 26 per cent, but the result showed the importance of preferences. LNP Queensland state director Brad Henderson said the recount had been "unnecessarily" drawn out by the number of PUP challenges. He said under the Commonwealth Electoral Act, the party had 40 days to decide whether to appeal to the Court of Disputed Returns. "Given the sheer scale of this process, in terms of the number and nature of challenges and determinations made, the LNP will now take some time to consider its position," Mr Henderson said. An inquiry has been called into the WA Senate recount after the AEC revealed on Thursday that 1375 ballot papers have gone missing. additional reporting by Daniel Hurst and Cameron Atfield