Lawyers for Clive Palmer’s fugitive nephew Clive Mensink flag private jet plans

The fugitive nephew of billionaire Clive Palmer has outlined an elaborate plan to return to Australia involving a private plane.

A former Queensland Nickel refinery director who went on an overseas holiday after the business went broke and never came home wants his arrest warrant put on hold if he flies home via private jet and surrenders himself to police.

Clive Palmer’s nephew Clive Mensink left Australia in June 2016, less than two months after the refinery went into voluntary administration owing $30m to employees and $196m to other creditors.

His last publicly known location was Bulgaria where he was spotted by journalists in 2018 with then-girlfriend Gabriela Konstantinova.

After refusing to comply with repeated requests for him to attend the Federal Court for questioning in relation to the refinery’s collapse, Mr Mensink was hit with contempt of court charges and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Clive Mensink left Australia in June 2016, less than two months after the refinery went into voluntary administration.

On Wednesday his lawyers asked Federal Court appeal judges that the warrant not be executed to allow Mr Mensink the opportunity to fly home via private jet and hand himself into police within 48 hours of arriving.

Should he not do so, a warrant for his arrest would be reissued.

His lawyer Mr CF Wilson QC argued a warrant would mean Mr Mensink would be arrested at the airport and taken into custody for something he otherwise likely wouldn’t be.

Mr Wilson also claimed Mr Mensink had been stuck overseas due to the pandemic and wanted to come home.

But the appeal judges dismissed the submission, claiming there was no evidence that he wished to return or when and that he had chosen not to turn for five years.

They said Mr Mensink would be arrested on arrival and taken to court for a bail application if he wished.

Justice Darryl Rangiah last year dismissed an application Mr Mensink lodged to have the contempt proceeding dismissed on the grounds the Federal Court registrar had “no reasonable prospect of successfully prosecuting” him.

Clive Mensink is believed to be living in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Mr Mensink then lodged a Full Court appeal.

At a case management hearing earlier this year Justice Robert Bromwich told the court that “serious departures” from court-ordered document submission timetables had taken place.

Justice Bromwich said some submissions made on behalf of Mr Mensink had been filed 12 days late, along with other “unclear and incomplete” documents needed to move the appeal forward.

Mr Mensink’s barrister Peter Dunning QC said he “unreservedly apologised” on behalf of his client.

The prosecutor acting on behalf of the court registrar said the registrar was concerned that if the case was delayed it could “go on forever”.

Justice Bromwich said there was “complexity that needs to be sorted through” in Mr Mensink’s case.

Prosecutor Michael Copley QC on Wednesday said it was in the public interest for the court to pursue the matter even if parties were to settle their differences.

“This alleged attempt was not private, it was a failure to attend a public hearing,” he told the court.

The appeal judges have reserved their judgment for a later date.