Four Corners reheats our many meaty Clive Palmer exclusives

Reporter Sarah Ferguson from ABC TV show 'Four Corners'. Pic ABC.

As the bogus billionaire stews in his own juices, the ABC reheats some Queensland Nickel tales.

Hayden Cooper, Four Corners, ABC television, Monday night:

Clive Palmer used the email alias “Terry Smith” to direct staff and approve expenditure over the course of several years.

Sarah Elks and Jessica Grewal, The Australian, January 25:

Clive Palmer used the alias Terry Smith to run the troubled Queensland Nickel refinery, despite repeatedly claiming since he was elected to parliament in 2013 that he was at “arm’s length” from the company’s day-to-day operations.

Cooper:

Fresh evidence obtained by Four Corners identifies his extensive involvement, giving approval from his “Terry Smith” email account for a range of spending … while not a director.

Elks and Grewal again:

Mr Palmer kept such a tight rein on the running of the Townsville plant between 2013 and last year that he was required to sign off on all purchases above $500, using his “Terry Smith” … email address, documents show … Mr Palmer approved expenditure when he was not formally registered as a director of the company. That fact adds weight to the possibility Mr Palmer acted as a “shadow director”, potentially exposing (him) to personal liability over any QNI debts — if it is deemed to have traded while insolvent — and potential legal breaches by the company.

Cooper:

The appointed director of Queensland Nickel was Palmer’s nephew, Clive Mensink. Four Corners found him at Townsville Airport, not long before the refinery was closed. (To Mensink) Mr Mensink … How’s things going at the refinery … You run the place, right … Has Clive Palmer been running that place … It looks as though he’s been a shadow director.

Hedley Thomas, The Australian, June 6, 2014:

Clive Palmer … quietly quit … the companies behind his trouble-­plagued Queensland Nickel refinery on April 5 … One senior corporate lawyer said Mr Palmer may still be seen in the eyes of the law as a “shadow director’’ due to the fact he continues to own the businesses outright and has strong links to the remaining director in charge of the companies, Clive Mensink.

Cooper:

The Chinese spent a fortune building the mine. But they soon clashed in court with their business partner over how to calculate royalties. In a message left for a Citic executive, Clive Palmer’s anger was unleashed … “Tell your chairman to stick it up his arse.”

Thomas, The Australian, July 9, 2013:

Clive Palmer has been recorded lashing out in … expletive-laden tir­ades of abuse against executives of one of China’s largest companies, which is spending more than $7 billion in Australia. In one of the … rants, obtained by The Australian, the … prime ministerial aspirant twice instructed an executive of Citic Pacific to “tell your chairman to stick it up his arse”.

Cooper:

Four Corners can also reveal … payments made by Queensland Nickel to other Palmer entities and interests. (including) … more than $700,000 … to his favourite foreign think tank, the Club of Madrid.

And Thomas again, The Australian, July 26, 2013:

The financial accounts of Club de Madrid reveal that … Mr Palmer opened his wallet with a donation of E500,000 … channelled from Queensland Nickel.