Clive Palmer spends big as iron ore royalties fund $100m property spree

Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer owns dozens of mansions on the Gold Coast and plenty of gold.

Clive Palmer photographed at Paradise Point, Gold Coast. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

Clive Palmer’s spending spree this year has seen him snap up more than $10m of Queensland property, draw up plans to build and own 4000 apartments and emerge with about $300m worth of gold.

The billionaire investor has spent more than $100m alone snapping up dozens of properties in southeast Queensland in recent years, along with boats, cars, planes, helicopters.

Then there are his political aspirations. Palmer famously spent more than $80m on advertising and donations for last year’s federal election.

He is estimated to be spending about $8m to $10m on the current Queensland state election, which features his wife Anna Palmer contesting a seat for his United Australia Party.

“It is not about winning seats necessarily but it is about showing that Clive has influence,” one source close to Palmer said. “He could get 5 per cent of the votes and that is a substantial amount (to direct preferences with).”

It is all made possible by the controversial though arguably extremely canny mining royalties deal Palmer has struck, and fought plenty of legal battles over, with Chinese giant Citic regarding the massive Sino Iron magnetite project in Western Australia’s Pilbara.

Palmer claims to receive about $US65m ($90m) per quarter in royalties from Citic, which gives him plenty of cash to splash around on various investments.

One source said Palmer had been spending tens of millions on property each year.

Controversy is never far from Palmer, though. He is fighting fraud charges and allegations of breaches of directors’ duties related to the transfer of money from his private companies for political purposes.

Meanwhile, his private company Mineralogy lists mining, property, cash, aircraft and even biological assets on its balance sheet. Mineralogy even has turned lender, extending a promissory note worth 130m Swiss Francs ($197m) that matures in December 2068 to an unnamed party.

In New Zealand, Mineralogy has leased an industrial warehouse in Christchurch and is exploring for rare earth metals on the North ­Island.

His Singapore interests have more of a maritime flavour, the most recent Mineralogy financial accounts state. “[The company] acquired three subsid­iaries in Singapore which operate in building and repairing ships, tankers, other ocean-going ­vessels and manpower contracting services, which currently has 40 employees,” it says.

But it is property that is clearly Palmer’s No.1 passion, besides litigation — which he has previously listed as a hobby - and politics.

In June, Palmer emerged as the buyer of a $4.8m beachfront house in Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.

The 387sq m mansion was previously used as a prize by the RSL Lotteries and features a spa and a rooftop terrace, while sporting panoramic ocean views from Surfers Paradise all the way to Coolangatta Beach.

Soon after that purchase, Palmer was confirmed as the buyer of a $5m home in Fig Tree Pocket in Brisbane’s western suburbs. That deal gives Palmer about 50 acres on the Brisbane River across several properties in the exclusive suburb.

But a check of property records shows Palmer, who got his start in business as a real estate agent and then property developer in the 1980s, owns dozens of mansions and houses across southeast Queensland.

He and his wife and their younger children live in a mansion bought for $9.5m in Paradise Point on the Gold Coast, and the luxury suburb is a clear favourite given at least three nearby houses are owned in Anna Palmer’s name, one in daughter Emily’s and another by nephew Clive Mensink.

Palmer’s son Michael also owns about $15m worth of property, including at least three mansions in Paradise Point. More than 12 Paradise Point houses are held by the Palmer family.

There are at least a dozen other houses in Palmer’s name in Queensland, as well as cattle farming investments, a Brisbane office building bought for $25.3m in 2017 and a $4.6m house in Perth’s Applecross.

Palmer is also planning to build around 4000 apartments on golf course land he owns on the Gold Coast. Mineralogy lists $20m in aircraft assets at cost, about $1.35m in cars and another $80m in exploration and mining rights. There is also $172,233 in biological assets.

Palmer also bought a superyacht from Larry Kestelman, a fellow member of The List — Australia’s Richest 250, earlier this year for about $8.4m.