Clive Palmer resort appeal heads to High Court

Clive Palmer has suffered another legal loss in his long-running dispute with timeshare owners at his mothballed ­resort.

Clive Palmer. Picture: AAP

Clive Palmer has suffered another legal loss in his long-running dispute with timeshare owners at his mothballed ­resort on the Sunshine Coast.

The mining magnate’s bid to privately prosecute the directors of The President’s Club, which oversees the timeshare holdings of the resort’s villas, was rejected by a court for a third time.

Mr Palmer, through his company Coeur di Lion, had launched legal action in the Magistrates Court in May last year accusing the President’s Club directors of running an unregistered managed investments scheme.

The company sought to privately prosecute three President’s Club directors, Patrick Kelly, Ian Lewis and Bruce Wallis, claiming they had breached the Corporations Act.

The case was rejected in the Magistrates Court, a decision that was upheld by the District Court after an appeal.

Coeur di Lion challenged the District Court’s ruling in the Court of Appeal, but that appeal has been dismissed with costs.

The Appeal Court ruled that the Companies and Securities Act specified that private parties could not prosecute alleged breaches of the Corporations Act.

Timeshare holders at the resort claimed Mr Palmer’s attempted prosecution against them was intended to “terrify” them into relenting in the long-running dispute, which has been played out through a multitude of cases in various courts.

The villa owners’ investment was impacted by the “temporary closure” of the formerly glittering resort in 2015 and have been embroiled in legal battles with Mr Palmer, including a Federal Court class action, ever since.

The resort’s golf course, formerly the staging grounds of the Australian PGA Championship and later decorated with gigantic dinosaur statues, remains open.

Nearly all of the villa owners want the resort to be reopened and for services and utilities, which have sporadically been cut off, to resume.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has charged Mr Palmer with breaches of the Corporations Act relating to his dealings with The President’s Club. The matter is proceeding through the Magistrates Court and is due for mention on June 26.

ASIC alleges Mr Palmer broke the law in 2012 when, through his company Palmer Leisure Coolum, he announced a takeover bid of The President’s Club but did not follow through under the ­required two-month rule.

The United Australia Party leader, who has always denied any wrongdoing, has claimed the charges are politically motivated and unsuccessfully sought to have the proceedings in the Magistrates Court permanently stayed.

In March, the Court of Appeal ruled Mr Palmer’s claims were “vexatious” and “untenable”. He has applied for leave to appeal the decision in the High Court.