Lawyers push to speed up Clive Palmer’s questioning

Clive Palmer faces compulsory examinations under oath with lawyers now moving in the Federal Court to speed up the process.

Clive Palmer and two other key figures in the collapsed Queensland Nickel business face compulsory examinations under oath with lawyers now moving in the Federal Court to speed up the process.

Solicitors want the Federal Court to issue an order on Wednesday to force Mr Palmer, who is serving out his final weeks as federal MP for the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax, to answer questions and give evidence.

Judge John Dowsett has been asked to include Mr Palmer’s nephew, Clive Mensink, and their close friend, the refinery’s former manager Ian Ferguson, in legal notices requiring them for questioning.

Lawyers for voluntary administrators FTI Consulting are seeking to have the order determined on Wednesday at the same time as a special purpose liquidator or the federal government applies for compulsory powers.

The taxpayer-funded Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme is being subjected to claims of more than $70 million of taxpayers’ funds after the refinery’s sacked staff were not paid their entitlements by Mr Palmer’s insolvent businesses.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has appointed insolvency expert Steven Parbery, a founding partner of PPB Advisory, to pursue Mr Palmer and his assets.

The appointment followed a scathing report about Mr Palmer’s siphoning of cash from his companies before their collapse.

Mr Palmer has rejected the findings and accused the federal government of acting for political purposes.

Mr Palmer said he had been denied the presumption of innocence since the administrators’ report, which said there was evidence the tycoon had used the refinery as a “piggy bank” to fund his other businesses and interests.

Mr Parbery is expected to launch litigation and asset recovery steps while working alongside FTI Consulting.

Documents were filed in the Federal Court on Friday in the case of Commonwealth of Australia v Queensland Nickel.