Clive Palmer spends final days of the campaign in Fiji

Controversial billionaire Clive Palmer has been spotted in Fiji in the final days of the election, as a lawyer for the billionaire says he has started to pay entitlements to his workers.

BILLIONAIRE Clive Palmer has appeared in Fiji in the final days of the election campaign, despite spending $50 million in advertising and being widely tipped to secure a Senate spot.

Multiple Australians in Fiji have spotted the high-profile figure there and even snapped photos of him eating in the Amalfi Italian restaurant on Denarau Island.

Some have even asked for selfies with the businessman.

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A spokesman for Mr Palmer said he was at the island resort to visit a terminally ill family friend and would be back in Australia within 24 hours.

How serious is Clive Palmer about his election campaign??
Having dinner @ Amalfi Italian Restaurant
Denarau Island, Nadi, Fiji pic.twitter.com/ptrOIFcUWc

— Nirav Naik (@naik448) May 12, 2019

“You can do that when you have your own private jet,” the spokesman said.

“He is fully committed to campaigning and is available on the phone now.

“He is just doing the right thing by a family friend.”

One person posting a photo online of the businessman in the restaurant questioned how serious Mr Palmer was about the campaign.

The image of Mr Palmer living the high-life is likely to frustrate his former Queensland Nickel workers, many of whom are stilled owed money from the collapse of the company in 2016.

While Mr Palmer has spent up big on an election campaign, with television ads and radio ads blitzing the airwaves, he has avoided media scrutiny by not holding press conferences to answer questions.

He has so far held one press conference, in which he attacked Labor for denying it had sought to speak with him about preferences, but Mr Palmer walked off without answering questions.

Couriermail.com.au has fact checked several of his statements during the campaign, and found falsehoods and misleading statements.

His plan to increase the pension by $150 a week has also been estimated by academics to cost the budget $1 trillion over a decade.

Mr Palmer has promised to pay his workers $7.16 million in unpaid entitlements, saying he has paid the money into a trust — which is managed by the law firm where his wife works — to be paid out if people apply to him and prove it is owed.

But that money does not include superannuation that is still owing, despite Mr Palmer’s claims to the contrary.

In a statement released this morning, Alexander Law principal Sam Iskander said money had begun being paid to the workers.

He said about 20 claims worth $450,000 had been paid out and estimated 50 would be settled by the end of the week.

“We have had a lot of queries asking if the claims will be paid before the election” Mr Iskander said.

“Claims are being assessed and payments are flowing to the workers.”

The money does not include the more than $60 million on taxpayer money used to cover the unpaid wages and entitlements through the Fair Entitlement Guarantee scheme.

The businessman has said he does not owe his workers money, instead blaming the administrators he appointed when the company ran into dire financial straights.

Originally published as Clive Palmer spends final days of the campaign in Fiji