Another legal loss for Clive Palmer; Raphael Geminder foes ramp up Pact stoush

Clive Palmer with his wife Anna. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Another week, another loss in court for Clive Palmer. This time it was the Federal Court handing down a decision in Palmer’s interminable attempts to get clear of prosecution over alleged breaches of the takeovers code when trying to buy out timeshare investors in his Coolum Resort in Queensland.

A quick reprise: in 2012 Palmer’s company launched a takeover bid for the timeshare company, which it subsequently withdrew.

ASIC opposed the withdrawal, launched an investigation into Palmer’s conduct – which included a compulsory question and answer session with the mining magnate – and kicked off a prosecution in the Queensland Magistrates Court in 2018 for allegedly criminal breaches of the takeovers code.

The matter has languished in the courts ever since, in what Federal Court Justice Catherine Button – in hearing the latest skirmish – aptly described as a “swamp”.

Palmer was seeking to argue (again) that ASIC and the CDPP should not be allowed to use transcripts of his compulsory 2016 interview as they were unlawfully compelled.

This time Palmer lost, and Justice Button stayed the proceedings until the outcome of the original prosecution, telling Palmer’s lawyers they should have the argument there rather than try to knock out the transcripts in the Federal Court ahead of time.

Her decision came with perhaps a few hints at frustration among the judiciary at Palmer indulging his legal hobby, referring on a few occasions to the body of law dealing with the “undue advantage that may be given to rich and powerful defendants to interrupt and delay the operation of the criminal law in a way not so readily available to ordinary citizens”.

And in doing so Justice Button laid out the fascinating record of Palmer’s extraordinary attempts to block the matter from being heard – described from the bench as “unabashed frontal assaults on the criminal proceedings”.

“Since the complaints were made in February 2018, the Palmer Leisure Coolum prosecution has been mentioned in the Magistrates Court at least 36 times (including administrative adjournments),” said Justice Button.

“Numerous applications have been made in the proceedings. As at 18 June 2024, there were five extant interlocutory applications filed in the prosecutions by the Palmer parties.”

On top of that, Palmer’s lawyers have kicked the matter up to superior courts no less than five times.

Plus two appeals to the High Court, which quite sensibly declined to get involved.

ASIC, for its part, has been forced to update its media file covering the release 76 times since 2018 – which Margin Call hears is an all-time record.

The prosecution next returns to the Queensland Magistrates Court on October 28.

Nobody involved, presumably, is holding their breath for an outcome.

Pact stoush ramps up

The great tragedy of moving annual shareholder meetings online is that grudge matches between shareholders and directors are no longer a spectator sport.

Such is the case at Pact, where the company’s 1800-odd remaining shareholders will be deprived of the chance to watch billionaire Raphael Geminder face off against perpetual irritants Mark Gandur and David Harris.

Remember that Gandur and Harris led the successful push to scupper Geminder’s lowball attempt to take the packaging group private, buying a 6 per cent stake in Pact and cobbling together a blocking stake with other dissident holders.

Pact chairman Raphael Geminder. Picture: Arsineh Houspian

At the same time they are still fighting a legal dispute with Pact over its 2018 takeover of their coathanger recycling firm, claiming Pact failed to cough up $30m in earn-out payments after the $122m buyout.

Now they will face off with Geminder at Pact’s November shareholder meeting, after both put themselves up for nomination to the board.

Pact acknowledged their spot on this year’s ballot paper through gritted teeth, posting their CVs with its meeting notice, but adding their skills and experience “would not add to the effectiveness of the board”.

“As Mr Gandur is a candidate not endorsed by the board, the company has not conducted the background checks it would typically perform in relation to a board endorsed candidate,” sniffed Pact in its meeting notice.

“Biographical information has been provided by Mr Gandur and has not been independently verified by the company.”

To be clear, neither man has a snowball’s chance of success. Geminder’s Kin Group holds 87.8 per cent of Pact stock.

Which suggests their presence on the ballot stems from nothing more than the sheer joy of irritating Geminder.

Gandur and Harris return to court for mediation meetings with Pact in December, only a few weeks after the company’s November 14 AGM.

On form, you wouldn’t think the prospect of a friendly resolution is likely.

Zali Steggall’s ambitions

If the polling can be taken seriously, all of the smart money would be on Anthony Albanese forming a minority government when Australia heads to the ballot box next year.

And it briefly seemed the cross bench might be preparing for that possibility also, judging by a job ad posted by high profile teals MP Zali Steggall.

Steggall is looking for a policy adviser, based either in her Manly electorate office or her “ministerial office” in Canberra. A little presumptuous to be crowing about ministerial appointments in a future minority government, perhaps?

Sadly, Steggall’s office confirmed on Thursday the slip was an “unintentional typo”, rather than a hint at a secret deal with Albo for a future ministry.