How Clive Palmer’s relationship with Campbell Newman and the Liberal National Party in Queensland soured

ONE has been accused of dodgy dealings with China, the other labelled a Nazi. What’s up with Clive Palmer and Campbell Newman?

Palmer Breakfast

IT IS always the ones you love the most that can inflict the most damage when a relationship sours, and the bust up between Clive Palmer and the Liberal National Party in Queensland is one of the messiest of divorces.

This morning the mining magnate and leader of the Palmer United Party continued his attack on Campbell Newman’s Government, describing the Premier as a Nazi and a criminal that should be thrown in jail.

“Of course he’s a Nazi. He wants to use the Gestapo, you know,” the PUP leader told reporters as he arrived at Parliament House with his new Senate team, who were sworn in today.

“Look at his popularity. He’s just below (where) Hitler was when he got elected.”

But it wasn’t always like this. Mr Palmer enjoyed a long, loving relationship with the Liberal National Party that dated back to the 1970s.

He has been a generous donor and even helped the National Party win two elections in 1983 and 1986, acting as the National’s campaign director and its media spokesman. He also supported former Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s unsuccessful bid to be prime minister in 1987.

So what happened?

2012 ELECTION

Mr Palmer has been squabbling with the Liberal National Party in Queensland ever since it won government in March, 2012.

In April 2012 Mr Palmer launched legal action against the government, saying it had failed to explain why it rejected a bid from his company Waratah Coal to build a rail line from its coal mine in the Galilee Basin to a coal terminal in Bowen. Instead it gave the lucrative contract to rival company GVK Hancock.

Mr Palmer later accused Treasurer Tim Nicholls of ‘cooking the books’ to create the impression that the state’s economy was in trouble so it could justify asset sales.

Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney then hit back, accusing Mr Palmer of trying to influence government decision making at an April 2012 meeting shortly after the Newman Government was elected.

He announced an audit into the billionaire’s mining operations in November 2012 and this year referred a number of documents to the Crime and Misconduct Commission. Mr Palmer has denied any wrongdoing.

The Liberal National Party, of which Mr Palmer was a life member, decided to suspend the mining magnate in November 2012, following his comments about the Treasurer and Deputy Premier. His membership was later reinstated but Mr Palmer decided to quit the party anyway.

At the time he said he was reserving judgment on new Premier Campbell Newman. But that stance didn’t last long.

NEWMAN GOES ON THE OFFENSIVE

In November 2012, less than a year after they were elected, the first LNP member decided to jump ship. Condamine MP Ray Hopper announced that he would be quitting the LNP to join Katter’s Australian Party, citing bad decisions on mining, the party’s leadership, and Mr Palmer’s resignation from the party as some of the reasons.

Mr Palmer comments that it should be Mr Newman who leaves the party, not disgruntled MPs. But he followed this up by claiming two LNP scalps for his own party just five months later.

In April, 2013, Mr Palmer lured Liberal National Party MP Alexander Douglas into joining PUP, followed by fellow MP Carl Judge on June 6, 2013.

Mr Palmer made it clear that a big part of his agenda in running for Canberra was to destroy Mr Newman and his government in Queensland.

Following his success in the federal election Mr Palmer claimed that “illegal payments” were being made to “corrupt” ministers of the Newman Government but admitted he did not have conclusive evidence.

However, the PUP leader vowed to table explosive claims against the Newman Government telling ABC’s 7.30 program that he had “a certain amount of evidence”.

“Goodbye, Campbell Newman — that’s what I’m saying. Goodbye, Campbell Newman. Goodbye Campbell Newman,’’ Mr Palmer said.

Meanwhile Mr Palmer has been buoyed by the popularity of PUP, which has been on the rise in Queensland, while Mr Newman’s vote has declined.

Mr Newman chose to attack Mr Palmer in April this year after the PUP leader came close to holding the balance of power in the Northern Territory Government, by convincing three MPs who had resigned from the Country Liberal Party, to join PUP instead.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles accused Mr Palmer of trying to “purchase” the NT government by signing up the three defectors, but Mr Palmer hit back during an interview on Insiders that Mr Giles was a liar and involved in slush funds in Darwin.

When asked about the situation, Mr Newman said Mr Palmer was a guy who tried to buy government.

“He’s busy trying to buy votes and buy people, that’s what he does. He tried to do that with us, we said no, and as a result, ah, he’s now a firm political opponent of this government,” Mr Newman said.

PALMER PULLS OUT ALL THE STOPS

Mr Newman’s comments prompted Mr Palmer to launch a $1.1 million law suit against the Queensland Premier in May this year for allegedly defaming him.

In response, Mr Newman lodged a defence in June that Mr Palmer showered two former LNP members with gifts before and after they defected to PUP.

“Mr (Carl) Judge received substantial gifts from Mr Palmer in the period from 18 December, 2012, and as ­recently as 26 May, 2014,’’ says Mr Newman’s Supreme Court ­document.

Mr Newman also released details of the Deputy Premier’s meeting with Mr Palmer on April 13, 2012, during which the mining magnate “sought to have all of the staff” leave the room while he discussed his coal interests in the Galilee Basin.

A Supreme Court document states that during the meeting Mr Palmer said he had prepared his own draft legislation for the Galilee Basin development and wanted to ensure it was adopted, rather than relying on the normal machinery of government.

The legislation would give Mr Palmer exclusive rights to develop a new port and rail line to the Galilee Basin. When Mr Palmer was told there were processes to follow, he allegedly said that “he had paid substantial sums to the Liberal National Party to have the LNP elected and that he had a lot more money to support the LNP in the future”.

Mr Palmer has denied the claims and has also launched defamation proceedings against Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney for alleging that Mr Palmer sought special treatment.

NEWMAN ADDS SALT TO THE WOUND

Yesterday Mr Newman waded further into the controversy around Mr Palmer’s business dealings and said he was surprised the police were not looking into serious allegations that $12 million of Chinese funds had gone missing.

Last week evidence filed in the Supreme Court in Brisbane showed that $2.2m of the missing funds, which was only meant to be used to operate a remote West Australian port to ship iron ore to China, was funnelled to a media company responsible for PUP’s election advertising.

Citic Pacific, the Chinese government-owned company that has alleged that the money was wrongfully siphoned, has been trying to piece together all the documents in civil court proceedings and is yet to make a formal complaint to police.

Its $10 billion Sino Iron project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region is also caught up in legal disputes with Mr Palmer over royalty payments and other aspects of the mine’s development.

Asked after a media conference in Brisbane yesterday whether Queensland police should be looking into the missing money, Mr Newman said: “Given the amount of information in the public domain now, I am surprised that either the WA or the Queensland police haven’t yet appeared to have initiated any sort of investigation.”

Mr Palmer is also running ­Supreme Court proceedings against The Australian for alleged defamation for publishing the story. He has repeatedly insisted that no money went missing last year.

In retaliation, Mr Palmer this morning accused Mr Newman of making up the story and described him a Nazi and a criminal that should be sent to jail.

“I’m the only political leader in Queensland standing up to the Queensland Premier as he puts people in jail, as he abuses their rights, as he backdates legislation to get mates off and he takes corrupt payments from people,” Mr Palmer said this morning.

Mr Newman dismissed Mr Palmer’s comments.

“I think his comments, well, people will make what they will of them,” he said.

Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said the comments were typical of the billionaire MP.

“We’ve come to expect that of Clive Palmer,” he said.

Mr Seeney said neither he nor the Premier would seek to take legal action of the comments.

“Litigation is Clive Palmer’s hobby, it’s not ours. Getting Queensland back on track is what we’re about.”