Clive Palmer says Queensland Nickel workers have already been paid entitlements
Clive Palmer today claimed he had already paid his former workers their outstanding entitlements.
Clive Palmer today claimed he had already paid all Queensland Nickel workers their outstanding entitlements, despite the payments not actually flowing to workers until after the election.
The Queensland Senate candidate last week made the surprise announcement he would pay out the $7 million in entitlements still owed to employees of his Townsville-based nickel and cobalt refinery, which went into liquidation in 2016, costing nearly 800 people their jobs.
But sacked refinery workers were subsequently told that their long-awaited payments will not be made until at least May 21, three days after polling day.
Mr Palmer, speaking outside the Senate ballot draw today, told reporters he had already “paid all the workers of Queensland Nickel their entitlements that the commonwealth didn’t pay”.
Asked to justify his claim in light of the evidence, Mr Palmer said: “Because we are paying $7 million today into a trust fund of a solicitor to administer the scheme and to pay the workers as soon as it can. So we will have sent a cheque, we’ll deposit $7 million in the bank, so you haven’t got a story.”
Mr Palmer also took aim at Opposition Leader Bill Shorten after
the Labor leader accused him of neglecting workers at his Townsville-based nickel refinery, with the Queensland businessman saying the comments were “untrue and defamatory”.
Mr Shorten today blasted the leader of the United Australia Party because the government had been forced to step in and bring forward payments after 787 workers were sacked from the refinery without receiving their entitlements.
“He (Palmer) can find the money to advertise on the billboards,” the Labor Leader said. “But … 787 employees had to be paid by the government $74 million.”
“And let me decode who the commonwealth is. You. Me. The camera crews. The taxpayers,” Mr Shorten said. “As for Palmer, every time he sends you a text message, you should
send one back and say where is the money for the other people of Townsville?”
In a media statement issued today, Mr Palmer hit back arguing that Mr Shorten had made untrue and defamatory comments “merely because I have offered to serve the Australian people.’’
“We need to be positive in this country and it is not helpful to Australia if we continue to attack individuals merely because they offer themselves for public service.
“Public service has no reward, history is its only reward,’’ Mr Palmer said.
“Politicians of all political parties should be positive and put forward the best ideas for Australia.
“We have to put Australia first and do all we can to improve the living standards of our fellow Australians”.
Campaigning in Gladstone yesterday, Mr Shorten deflected a question on whether the political resurrection of Clive Palmer posed a threat to his election on May 18.
“There’s only one person who has ever been resurrected and I’m not going to compare Clive Palmer to him,” Mr Shorten said. “The point about it is, I’m not going to get distracted by Clive Palmer”.
Almost $67m of taxpayer money was paid to Queensland Nickel workers to partially cover their redundancy packages following the company’s collapse in 2016.
Mr Palmer rejected suggestions he repay taxpayers’ that money, blaming the company’s administrators for the company’s closure with the loss of about 800 jobs.
“I’ve been subjected to a large public endeavour for a long time because people don’t want a change in this country,” he said.