Tell him he’s dreaming: the gran standing up to ‘bully’ Palmer

Grandmother Maree Frecklington is up against Clive Palmer in a strange Queensland version of The Castle.

26/11/2015: Defiant Woodlands unit owner Maree Frecklington, with the Body Corp. Chairman and unit owner Chris Shannon, inside the unit complex, Coolum, Sunshine Coast QLD. Maree is refusing to leave the unit complex, for fear of not being allowed back in, after Clive Palmer blocked access to the complex,then cut water and power supplies to the units which are technically "inside" the Palmer Resort.

It looks like a hopeless mismatch. Maree Frecklington, a slightly framed, quietly spoken grandmother, versus Clive Palmer, the beefy, extroverted self-proclaimed billionaire (with a cashflow ­dilemma) — in a strange Queensland version of The Castle.

In the hit comedy movie, unscrupulous developers want to take over Darryl Kerrigan’s home because the land, though toxic and unattractive, is close to the airport runway.

In this absurd, prolonged and value-destroying shambles over property rights that pits Mrs Frecklington, 67, against Mr Palmer, the land and her villa are close to the beach and a championship golf course at his shut-down Coolum Resort. But the defiance of Mrs Frecklington, in the face of every ­attempt by the federal parliamentarian and his few remaining staff to prevent her visiting and staying in her villa, is emblematic of The Castle’s classic line: “Tell him he’s dreaming.”

Yesterday, Mrs Frecklington vowed to soldier on. The electricity and water have been cut off to her villa and the others, thanks to Mr Palmer’s instructions to his ­besieged manager, Simon Stodart, who has warned owners such as Mrs Frecklington they should not visit their properties.

“Any owner seeking any access to any villa will be guilty of trespass and appropriate action will be taken,” Mr Stodart warned all villa owners in a November 6 letter.

The villa toilets won’t flush without water. There are no other residents. “But I know my rights, I won’t be vindictively bullied,’’ Mrs Frecklington said. “When someone is bullying me I stand up for myself. I won’t back down.”

Friends have brought her candles, batteries and a torch, and provisions. Through the day she plays a cat-and-mouse game with the resort’s security officers.

There are multiple entry points to the sprawling resort in the shadow of Mount Coolum, but Mrs Frecklington knows that if she is spotted leaving to grab a coffee in a nearby cafe, security will change the codes on the gates to prevent her from getting back in.

She is resigned to staying there for as long as she believes she needs to. Last month she was hospitalised for high blood pressure which she attributes in part to the constant battles at the resort.

There are more comfortable ­alternatives — her luxury riverfront apartment in Brisbane or ­another close to Sydney Harbour — but in this battle, she says, it is a matter of principle. And while the federal member for Fairfax keeps throwing up ­access obstacles for the 500-plus quarter-share owners of the properties at his defunct resort, the former Hyatt Coolum, Mrs Frecklington is going to continue to push right back. She won’t be intimidated.

“I have paid all my bills,” she said. “There is not a cent owing. I’m entitled to stay here and I won’t be told by him that I cannot.

“I bought in here in 2004 as a lifestyle choice. I’ve stayed here many times, very happily, with family before Clive Palmer came. I’m not going to change now.”

She questions whether any other politician could act like Mr Palmer in their electorate, effectively disenfranchising property owners from their land.

Nearby, the Palmer Coolum Resort’s golf course is now closed; the reception for the once-busy five-star accommodation is closed; the resort rooms are closed; the village square of restaurants is closed; the swimming pools are half-full of stagnant water; and more than 600 staff are out of work. The gates are firmly chained. Even the ­robotic dinosaurs look lonely.

The dispute between the villa owners and Mr Palmer is the subject of ongoing litigation ­involving the Takeovers Panel and argument over whether the tycoon’s conduct has been “unacceptable”. It revolves around the rights of the quarter-share owners to use properties in which they enjoyed ready access for years until Mr Palmer interpreted his position and theirs differently in a complex ownership structure.

On the front page of the ­Sunshine Coast Daily, a banner advertisement depicts the operator, the founder of the Palmer United Party, with the slogan “We’re here to help”.

“That’s so ironic,’’ Mrs Frecklington said.

The head of the body corporate committee, Chris Shannon, is calling on authorities to take a closer look at what is happening.

“He has cut off the vital ­services for the owners — their water and power — without notice or reason,’’ Mr Shannon said yesterday during a visit to check on Mrs Frecklington’s welfare.

“We consider that these are the actions of a vindictive attitude. The body corporate will not tolerate this sort of behaviour — from Clive Palmer or anyone. In the three years since Clive has been here I cannot cite one thing that he has done to help any of the owners in relation to the ­resort property.”

Mr Palmer texted a response in which he said Mrs Frecklington “has no agreement with any of my companies”.

He said she and other villa owners had no legal rights.