Not a nickel spared as Clive Mensink travels the world

Clive Mensink’s overseas extravaganza is something of which 800 sacked Queensland Nickel workers could only dream.

Former managing director of Queensland Nickel, Clive Mensink.

It’s an overseas extravaganza of which 800 sacked Queensland Nickel refinery workers could only dream.

As liquidators pick over the company’s entrails, former managing director Clive Mensink is on the other side of the world on a multi-country jaunt which has made him unavailable to be served with a summons to give evidence to a public examination of the corporate collapse in the Federal Court.

Mr Mensink is on what some would see as the holiday of a lifetime and, since he left the country in June, has travelled to Singapore, the US — where he drove the ­fabled Route 66 — Germany, ­Amsterdam and London.

The Australian has learned Mr Mensink, the nephew of Queensland Nickel owner Clive Palmer, has no definitive plans to return to Australia and is not believed to have booked a return airfare.

His decision to take a world tour, with no end date, comes as the company he led is under ­intense scrutiny from the corporate watchdog, the federal government and ­administrators.

Liquidators have so far failed to serve him with legal papers that would require his attendance at court. The Australian government has no cause to demand his return.

ASIC launched an investigation into Queensland Nickel in July, working with liquidators FTI Consulting to explore its financial reports, the money owed to creditors and donations from the company to the Palmer United Party.

Meanwhile, the federal government appointed special purpose liquidators PPB Advisory to try to recover the nearly $70 million in sacked workers’ entitlements paid for by taxpayers, not Mr Palmer.

Both FTI Consulting and PPB Advisory have been unable to find Mr Mensink to serve him with a summons to appear in court to ­answer questions about the company’s collapse.

Queensland Nickel went into voluntary administration in January, and then liquidation, with debts of $300m.

The 800 workers from the Yabulu nickel refinery were sacked and creditors, including rail services and freight company Aurizon, have not been paid their bills.

Throughout December, when workers were fearing redundancy in the shadows of Christmas, Mr Mensink travelled overseas on business meetings. Earlier this year he is understood also to have holidayed in Bangkok.

He flew again in June. Some friends and associates claim he was still seeking funding for Queensland Nickel. However, he never returned.

The Australian understands Mr Mensink landed first in Singapore and from there flew to the US, where he drove on Route 66, which runs between Chicago and Los Angeles.

He next flew to Germany, and then to The Netherlands where he is understood to have spent time in Amsterdam, before travelling to London.

Mr Mensink did not return calls from The Australian yesterday.

He has previously criticised FTI Consulting, saying the liquidators failed to serve him with a summons before his prearranged trip.

“I was in Australia at my place of work and the time expired for the service of a summons,” Mr Mensink said.

“I wasn’t served and there was no examination, I wasn’t going to stop my trip.

“FTI has had since the 18th May to take out a summons and serve it in accordance with the Corporations Law and they failed to do so.’’

People close to the Queensland Nickel situation suspect that Mr Palmer might be funding Mr Mensink’s round-the-world trip.

Mr Palmer has denied he had any responsibility for the hundreds of workers who lost their jobs or the dozens of creditors who are owed $300m.

The former politician has said he officially retired from business activities in 2013, when he was elected to federal parliament, and he said Mr Mensink was the ­refinery operator’s director.

ASIC is investigating claims, which Mr Palmer denies, that he was acting as a “shadow director”, using a private email account and still signing-off on company ­expenses.

The Federal Court yesterday was told by Queensland Nickel’s former chief financial officer Daren Wolfe that Mr Palmer was involved in decisions not to pay creditors when the company was running out of money last year.

Asked by PPB Advisory’s barrister, Tom Sullivan QC, if Mr Mensink would defer to his uncle’s views on paying creditors, Mr Wolfe said: “Generally yes.”

He said he could not recall any specific occasions last year when Mr Mensink refused to abide by Mr Palmer’s decisions.

Mr Wolfe, who said he reported directly to Mr Mensink and Mr Palmer, told the court there were signs Queensland Nickel was running out of cash in July last year when Aurizon was underpaid and customs duties were not paid to the Australian Taxation Office.