Clive Palmer fighting to beat freeze of assets
Clive Palmer says he could not run his empire properly for fear of going to jail if a judge froze his assets.
Resources magnate Clive Palmer says he could not run his corporate empire properly for fear of going to jail if a judge froze his personal and business assets.
Liquidators for Mr Palmer’s failed Queensland Nickel have applied to the Queensland Supreme Court to freeze Mr Palmer’s assets, to stop him from shifting his wealth out of reach of the company’s creditors.
But the former federal MP and his corporate lawyers are fighting the application, arguing he would suffer “a very significant reputational stigma” and not be able to run his businesses if the freezing orders were made.
“(The orders) will virtually mean I cannot act in a commercial manner and … would slow down operations,” a self-represented Mr Palmer told the court yesterday.
“We may lose opportunities, and I’d be very reluctant to make any decisions to do anything at all, if I faced the prospect at my age, 63, of going to jail for getting it wrong, or relying on someone’s advice that wasn’t quite correct.”
Queensland Nickel collapsed in early 2016, costing nearly 800 workers their jobs and leaving creditors out of pocket by about $300 million. Federal taxpayers are owed $70m after being forced to pay for Queensland Nickel workers’ unpaid redundancy entitlements.
Mr Palmer said he and his companies were now so wealthy — particularly after a recent West Australian court decision that awarded his Mineralogy flagship more than $200m — that there was no risk of him not paying back Queensland Nickel’s creditors, if a court ordered him to do so.
“There doesn’t seem to be any reason why we’d avoid any of the obligations, considering the amount of cash we’ve got, and the assets,” Mr Palmer said. “We’ve got the capacity to meet any judgment (of the court).”
But barrister Tom Sullivan QC, acting for special-purpose liquidators PPB Advisory, yesterday argued that Mr Palmer and his companies could dispose of their wealth swiftly, to put the money out of reach of creditors.
Supreme Court judge John Bond reserved his judgment.
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