Clive Palmer says obligations “finished” after transferring millions to trust fund

Clive Palmer says his obligations are “finished” because he’s put $7 million into a trust fund held by his lawyers to pay out workers unpaid entitlements

BILLIONAIRE Clive Palmer says his obligations are “finished” because he’s put $7 million into a trust fund held by his lawyers to pay out workers unpaid entitlements, despite allegations Queensland Nickel still owes millions to taxpayers, ratepayers and small businesses.

Mr Palmer, flanked by lawyer Sam Iskander of Alexander Law, said 69 claims for outstanding unpaid entitlement had been lodged, with money possibly flowing from the trust fund in ten days.

“We are currently working with administrators and accountants of QNI resources to disburse those funds accordingly,” Mr Iskander said.

Mr Palmer said he expected at least 335 claims to be lodged according to company records.

“The money is there, as far as we are concerned my obligations are finished. What I said I would do I’ve done,” he said.

“[After the] disbursal of those funds, all workers of Queensland Nickel would have received 100 per cent of all their entitlements.”

Mr Palmer then again said the refinery could be opened “tomorrow” if the State Government stopped blocking access to the Townsville Port.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey confirmed Queensland Nickel owes government-owned Port of Townsville about $1.1 million since 2016.

“They must be paid before any agreement is signed to give him or his companies access to a berth,” Mr Bailey said.

“Mr Palmer is happy to tell everyone he has billions of dollars and how much he’s spending on political ads to get elected. He should pay his debts.”

Mr Palmer claimed he had offered to pay the port debt but was rebuffed by the State Government.

The Townsville Bulletin in April last year reported Townsville City Council was owed $2 million in outstanding rates and charges by QNI Metals Pty Ltd and QNI Resources Pty Ltd.

A total of 237 Queensland Nickel workers were made redundant three days before the company went into receivership in 2016, which led to a further 500 workers being laid off.

Mr Palmer said he was never at fault for the collapse of the refinery or for nearly 800 workers losing their jobs.

Instead he blamed liquidators, the State Government, and the Chinese government.

Mr Palmer claimed he had $4000 million worth of assets and that he “doesn’t see” other people investing in Townsville.

“The people of Townsville are not very supportive of that kind of investment, they’d rather live on the dole and go broke,” he said.

He later said people did not want to invest in Townsville because there was no government leadership to provide investment certainty. “The result is that people are on the dole, that they are disadvantaged,” Mr Palmer aid.

During an interview with Channel 9 on Monday morning, Mr Palmer said more details on how to claim would appear in the Townsville Bulletin on Tuesday.

There were no details printed in the Tuesday edition of the paper. Information is available on the QNI website.

Former workers must lodge claims within the next four months.

Workers wanting to claim must produce five separate documents. Liquidators are seeking to claw back the millions they say is owed to creditors with the case to be subject of a mammoth trial that begins in July and is expected to run for at least two months.

Originally published as Clive Palmer says obligations “finished” after transferring millions to trust fund