Clive Palmer in $1.8bn Queensland Nickel counterclaim
Clive Palmer says he’s seeking $1.8bn in damages against Queensland Nickel’s liquidators over their “politically motivated witch hunt’’.
Clive Palmer says he has lodged a $1.8bn counterclaim against Queensland Nickel’s liquidators, who are seeking to recoup $300m owed to creditors — including federal taxpayers — when Mr Palmer’s company collapsed two years ago.
The former federal MP this afternoon released a statement saying he had lodged documents with the Queensland Supreme Court seeking $1.8bn in damages from the company’s liquidators, who he again accused of being on a “politically motivated witch hunt”.
“The liquidators are all part of a government agenda to divert me away from serving the people of Australia who I love,” Mr Palmer said.
The documents have not yet appeared on the Queensland court’s electronic register. But this afternoon was the extended deadline for Mr Palmer and his corporate empire to lodge a consolidated defence to the liquidators’ lawsuits.
Mr Palmer has denied allegations he acted as a shadow director of Queensland Nickel, that he allowed the company to trade while insolvent, and that he wrongly transferred millions of dollars out of the Townsville company into his political party, family, and private accounts.
Queensland Nickel collapsed under its debts in early 2016, leaving nearly 800 workers jobless. The federal government was forced to cover $70m in Mr Palmer’s workers’ redundancy entitlements, that Mr Palmer’s company did not pay.
