Clive Palmer forced to front nickel refinery hearings

Clive Palmer could be called to give evidence under oath about collapse of North Queensland nickel refinery on Monday.

Clive Palmer: ‘It will be great to have an opportunity to explain to people what really happened and who the real culprits are.’ Picture: AAP

Clive Palmer could be called to give evidence under oath about the collapse of his North Queensland nickel refinery on Monday.

Barrister Cathy Muir, representing the special purpose liquidator, this morning told the Federal Court they had liaised with Mr Palmer after his bid to have the examination summons set aside was rejected by Justice Andrew Greenwood yesterday.

She said as Mr Palmer had a personal matter on Friday the examination summons would now be returned at 9.30am on Monday meaning he could be called to give evidence then.

A similar agreement had also been reached with Queensland Nickel managing director Ian Ferguson and former chief financial officer Daren Wolfe after they too failed to have the summonses set aside.

Palmer forced to front hearing

Clive Palmer and two senior Queensland Nickel executives have lost their bid to have summonses requiring them to appear before public hearings set aside.

Federal Court judge Andrew Greenwood yesterday found there was no basis to set aside the summonses issued to Mr Palmer, managing director Ian Ferguson and former chief financial officer Daren Wolfe, with public hearings into the collapse of the north Queensland refinery expected to start on Friday.

Justice Greenwood also continued to suppress a “salacious” affidavit submitted by Mr Palmer as part of his bid to have the summonses set aside, with orders ­expected todayon which parts will be redacted.

Outside court Mr Palmer ­denied his challenge was an ­attempt to avoid having to give evidence under oath at the looming public hearings but indicated he may appeal against Justice Greenwood’s decision on a constitutional basis.

“It was a constitutional question there. I do think that the laws are wrong,” Mr Palmer said.

“Whether I appeal or I don’t appeal I am quite happy to be in any examination, to say anything about anything really. There’s nothing to hide.

“I would have liked to have got on early to be able to set the record straight about Queensland ­Nickel, to explain how the liquidator put it in to liquidation while we had millions of dollars that we wanted to put into it. But we will have to wait until Friday, unfortunately.

“It will be great to have an ­opportunity to explain to people what really happened and who the real culprits are.”

Mr Palmer said he believed the information contained within his suppressed affidavit was in the public interest. He said he would be making a statement “whatever comes”.

“I think there’s things in my affidavit that the public have a right to know and, really, secrecy should be dead in this country,’’ he said. “I had a look at it today in court. There wasn’t anything there that I would redact. There wasn’t anything there that you couldn’t get from other sources besides myself.’’

A Federal Court judge appointed a special purpose liquidator earlier this year to chase Mr ­Palmer over the refinery’s debts after more than 800 workers were sacked. The workers were owed $74 million in entitlements, and the federal government enacted its fair entitlements guarantee to help cover most of the entitlements owed, applying for the special purpose liquidator in a bid to recover the money.

“I’m a person who personally was there, was able to personally testify on oath that these things happen,” Mr Palmer said of his affidavit.

“Rather than having supposition, I put my name on oath to say ‘I saw so and so’, say ‘such and such’. That was terrible because I could have actually been a person who had contact with the Prime Minister. I could have been a person who actually went out to dinner with him … I may have been invited to his home for dinner.

“He may have discussed the possibility of me returning to the Liberal Party. I may have known all these people for 40 years and what they are up to. All those things would make good stories.

“Wait for it, you’ll see it.”