Clive Palmer holds out for better price for superyacht Maximus
Clive Palmer is holding out for a better price for his superyacht Maximus, as it’s revealed the former federal MP has rejected a $3m offer.
Clive Palmer is holding out for a better price for his superyacht Maximus, with the luxury boat’s salesman revealing the former federal MP has rejected a $3m offer for the launch.
Liquidators of Mr Palmer’s collapsed Queensland Nickel company are fighting to freeze $200m worth of the resources magnate’s assets, including the 100-foot 2008 Horizon 98 Sky Lounge Mr Palmer bought for daughter Emily for $5.5m in 2009.
Marine Auctions’ Adrian Seiffert said his client Mr Palmer had turned down a $3m bid for Maximus, which went to auction on the Gold Coast in late May.
“We’re close to $3m, but he wants $4m,” said Mr Seiffert, who sold the boat to Mr Palmer at a receivers’ auction of the assets of fallen IT whiz-kid Daniel Tzvetkoff.
Mr Seiffert said he had not been contacted by taxpayer-funded special purpose liquidators PPB Advisory, or their lawyers, about attempts to freeze Mr Palmer’s assets in the Queensland Supreme Court.
The matter will be heard by Justice John Bond on August 23, and Mr Palmer has vowed to fight the move, representing himself in court.
Barrister Shane Doyle QC, for PPB Advisory, told Justice Bond last week that Mr Palmer was “accelerating” the sale of assets owned by him and his corporate empire, precipitating the need for a Mareva injunction, or freezing order.
But outside court, Mr Palmer denied he would hold a fire sale of his holdings, including a large property portfolio, golf resorts, vintage cars, the Maximus yacht and other assets.
“I wouldn’t sell anything at a fire sale,” the former federal MP said. “I didn’t become one of the wealthiest people in Australia by selling things cheap.”
Mr Palmer also insisted he had rejected an offer of $18m for his corporate headquarters Mineralogy House in Brisbane’s CBD in June, before eventually accepting $23m for the high-rise.
The liquidators’ Mareva injunction application is part of a wider lawsuit by PPB Advisory that sues Mr Palmer, his fugitive nephew Clive Mensink, and nearly two dozen other defendants over the collapse of Queensland Nickel, which cost creditors $300m and nearly 800 workers their jobs.
Mr Mensink, the sole registered director for the company when it went into voluntary administration in January last year, has been overseas for more than a year. Two warrants have been issued for his arrest for contempt of court, after he flouted several orders to cut short his marathon holiday and testify in the Federal Court over the corporate failure.
Asked whether Australian authorities had considered cancelling Mr Mensink’s passport, a spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop refused to say.
“For privacy reasons we are unable to comment on the status of an individual’s passport,” she said.
“Passports may be cancelled following a recommendation from a competent authority.”
On Tuesday, the AFP confirmed it was assisting the Federal Court in relation to the arrest warrants out for Mr Mensink — after court documents showed the AFP had asked Interpol to issue a “Blue Notice” for the globetrotting businessman.
“Should anyone have any information regarding this matter, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000,” an AFP spokesman said.