Last resort for Palmer's employees as Clive settles in to Canberra

EMPLOYEES at Clive Palmer's dinosaur park and tourism resort are pleading for regulators to investigate stress and abuse claims.

Seat of power ... Clive Palmer in Parliament today. Picture: News Corp Australia

SECRET crisis talks among senior and junior employees at Clive Palmer's dinosaur park and tourism resort on Queensland's Sunshine Coast have led to a plea for workplace regulators to investigate claims that staff are at risk from unusual levels of "constant stress and abuse" and the wrongful stripping of their entitlements.

Ten current and former employees who separately contacted The Australian yesterday claimed the workplace had become intolerable and unhealthy. They alleged the situation was so bad that staff, some with many years of service, had handed in resignations and walked away, despite having ongoing financial commitments and no job to go to.

Mike Hennessy, a former security manager and bodyguard to Mr Palmer, the founder and head of the Palmer United Party, broke ranks this week by claiming the newly elected federal member for Fairfax was a tyrannical bully who had severely abused staff and managers and mocked voters.

Mr Hennessy said: "The stress is unbearable, it literally is. People are walking around there like they are shell-shocked and that's not an exaggeration."

Mr Palmer, who was in Canberra yesterday for a speech at the National Press Club and the start of the new parliament, strenuously denied the claims but admitted swearing "all the time". Mr Palmer called Mr Hennessy a "lowly paid security guard earning less than $60,000 a year" and scoffed at the report describing him as a security manager. Mr Palmer, who called on the media to do better, slammed The Australian and The Courier-Mail newspapers and attacked News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Official resort documents and pay slips provided to The Australian confirm that contrary to Mr Palmer's claims, Mr Hennessy was employed as the "Resort Services and Security Manager". Police sources said they knew Mr Hennessy in his role as security manager at the resort who attended to Mr Palmer's security.

Existing staff said Mr Hennessy was being supported and encouraged by his former colleagues who were fearful they would be sued if they spoke out. Mr Hennessy, who worked for Mr Palmer for 18 months and travelled with him on his private jet, said his former colleagues needed to be supported but they had been bullied and were fearful of legal action. Mr Palmer has repeatedly boasted of his litigation record.

Allegations of sackings on a whim, the withholding of leave and other entitlements, the suspension of payments to suppliers of food, beverages and other products, and the ongoing abuse of staff are leaking from a resort that was once a major employer. Mr Palmer, a political campaigner for job creation and economic revival who had more than 650 staff when he bought the resort in 2011, denied that he was a "job destroyer" and insisted he still had more than 150 employees at Coolum.

A manager yesterday described to The Australian a recent meeting in which "we were told by Clive we are a bunch of thieving c . . ts and (we would) close the resort".

He said two fellow managers "were sent off site . . . as they dared to tell Clive that his rantings and language were unacceptable, especially as women were present".

"The level of disrespect and abuse towards everyone around him . . . is truly disgusting," he said. "There have been many staff let go without notice who still wait for unpaid termination payments . . . Resignations are received every week and remaining staff are pushed to breaking point. The resort has hard-working and dedicated staff that are under constant stress and abuse. We now have hundreds of purchase orders unapproved . . . Managers have had their order approval ability cut."

The manager claimed the resort had limited food or beverage stock because orders had not been placed. "We are visiting Coles and First Choice for bread and alcohol daily," he said.

"Creditors are calling . . . as they have not been paid. (Mr Palmer) micro-manages everything and blames everyone but himself. Everyone involved from staff to the team of visiting accountants . . . can barely believe what they are witnessing. Personally we don't fear being sacked for speaking out but do fear the dozens of lawyers Clive hires to protect him. I simply can't believe this can happen in a country like Australia."