‘Clive Palmer owes it to us to own up, and pay up’: nickel employee

For Shaun Bramwell, the near-$60,000 in redundancy he’s owed by Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel is a fortune.

Ayr, Qld 28 Jan 2016 - Sacked QNI worker Shaun Bramwell with wife Angela and sons Blundy, 8, and Boston, 5 at their Ayr home. Shaun and Angela were in the middle of home renovations which have now been put on hold - Photo: Cameron Laird (Ph: 0418 238811 [e-mail])

For battler Shaun Bramwell and his family, the near $60,000 in redundancy entitlements he’s owed by Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel refinery is a small fortune.

Yet as the father of three prepares for today’s first creditors’ meeting in Townsville over the refiner­y’s future, he is ­adamant he does not want the government to ride to his rescue: he wants the plant’s self-proclaimed billionaire owner to pay up.

“Obviously I’d like some money, but I’d rather it came from Clive or his company, not the government,” Mr Bramwell told The Australian yesterday, from his family home at Ayr, 80km south of Townsville. “I’ve got no problem with businesses going broke and having to make people redundant … but they should still have to meet their obligations. It’s the responsibility of the company, and in this case, ultimately Clive Palmer is ­responsible.”

The Australian can reveal voluntary administrator FTI Con­sulting has widened the scope of its investigation into Mr Palmer and his complex business empire.

The independent firm — appointed by Mr Palmer — is probing the purchase and subsequent disposal of his luxury Coolum resort, two Gold Coast golf courses and a $11.5 million wedding venue from the once-trumpeted “Queensland Nickel Group of Companies” to other Palmer-controlled entities.

For Mr Bramwell, his bus driver wife, Angie, and their three children, the redundancy entitlements are critical to their family’s immediate future. After eight years of hard work as a processing technician at the Yabulu refinery, Mr Bramwell was made redundant with 236 of his colleagues on January 15. Most of his final QNI pay cheque has already been spent on school books and fees; a planned renovation of their family home has been cancelled.

Many sacked QNI workers are in similar situations. They’re unemployed, the bills are mounting, and so is their anger.

“It’s already rotten — (it’s) tight for people but I don’t believe the true effect has hit yet,” Mr Bramwell said. “Real desperation will kick in when the bills are due and there is no wage coming in.”

The Bramwells are trying to do their bit to help: they’ve offered up an old shop they own as emergency accommodation for stricken ex-QNI workers.

The creditors’ meeting for the refinery’s operating company, Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd, which entered voluntary ­admini­stration last week, is expected to be fiery. Neither Mr Palmer nor sole director nephew Clive Mensink are expected to be there.

The meeting will shed more light on the company’s financial position — administrators have now tallied debts of more than $100m — but payment of entitlements won’t happen soon. Unsecured trade creditors are owed $70m, headed by rail company Aurizon, owed about $20m.

Redundant workers are owed up to $16m, employees’ unpaid entitlements are about $14m and Mr Palmer says he is owed $2.7m for paying Christmas wages.

The resources magnate may soon have larger problems: if it is found the refinery companies were not compensated fairly for transactions, administrators may launch court action to claw back cash if QNI slips into liquidation. That could be through two legal avenues. If the transactions happened when the company was insolvent, they could be declared “uncommercial” and claimed back. Otherwise, an equitable civil claim could be launched.

The administrators are also investigating whether Mr Mensink or Mr Palmer, allegedly acting as a shadow director, could be personally liable for any breaches, therefore exposing their assets.

In company documents published in 2012, it was said the Queensland Nickel Group was “privately owned by Professor Clive Palmer” who “holds a multi-billion-dollar, debt-free port­folio of assets”. Included in that were the Coolum resort — bought for about $80m in July 2011 by entities associated with Queensland Nickel — and the Palmer Woods and Palmer Colonial Gold Coast golf courses — bought for about $7m in 2011. In 2010, Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd bought the 76ha Avica wedding venue as its corporate HQ.

Now the nickel refinery has been separated from the golf courses and resorts. Property records show Avica was transferred to Mr Palmer for $7.9m in 2013, $3.6m less than the refinery paid for it. The Gold Coast golf courses were owned by QN Securities until February 2013 — with all shares held by QNI Resources Pty Ltd and QNI Metals Pty Ltd, the companies that own the Townsville nickel refinery.

ASIC documents show QNI Resources Pty Ltd sold QN Securities, then named Palmer Leisure Australia, to Mr Palmer in July 2012 for an undisclosed sum.

The government’s Fair Entitlement Guarantee will not kick in unless the company is put into liquidation. Until then — or until QNI and the administrators work out a way to pay out creditors — workers have an uncertain wait.