Clive Palmer ends workers’ three-year wait for cash

More than 140 former Queensland Nickel workers have been paid their outstanding entitlements by Clive Palmer.

Clive Palmer transferred $7m into a trust account held by his lawyer. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES.

More than 140 former Queensland Nickel employees have been paid their outstanding entitlements after Clive Palmer agreed to hand over the $7 million still owed three years after the Townsville refinery’s collapse.

More than $2m has been paid to workers in the two weeks since the money became available, after Mr Palmer transferred $7m into a trust account held by his lawyer.

No former employees have refused to sign a binding legal document that prevents them publicly criticising Mr Palmer or his companies after they take the money. The Brisbane Supreme Court this week heard the overdue repayments were “at the very heart” of the upcoming trial brought by Queensland Nickel’s liquidators against Mr Palmer and the company’s directors.

Queensland Nickel collapsed with debts of about $300m in 2016, costing 800 workers their jobs. The United Australia Party leader, who spent an estimated $60m during the election campaign, missed out on his bid to join the Senate and the party failed to win a seat in either the upper or lower house.

Mr Palmer announced on April 15, soon after the election was called, he would make payments to workers whose redundancy entitlements were not fully covered by the Commonwealth Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme, which paid out nearly $70m to nickel refinery workers.

The payments were initially not going to be available until after the election, but Mr Palmer later transferred $7m into a trust fund held by his legal firm, Alexander Law. The first payments were made last week.

Mr Palmer forced former employees seeking payment to sign a deed of release that prevented them making any future claim for entitlements from Queensland Nickel. They were also silenced from making “any disparaging comments” in relation to Mr Palmer or his companies.

A spokesman for Mr Palmer yesterday told The Australian no former employee claiming their entitlements had refused to sign the document.