Space Centre Australia boss said he had $100m government funding ‘committed’ – government entity says he didn’t

Former Space Centre Australia employees claim a director overstated government funding commitments by at least $100m while trying to garner support for a bold Cape York spaceport.

Former Space Centre Australia employees claim a director overstated government funding commitments by at least $100m while trying to garner support for a bold Cape York spaceport.

Embattled company director James Palmer recently came under fire from former employees regarding unpaid salaries and contracts.

It has since been revealed he told prospective staff in 2021 he had a “$100m committed investment” from the federal government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, an entity that provides concessional loans to developments in Northern Australia.

But a NAIF spokesman confirmed it had not committed any funds to the project.

One email sent by Mr Palmer to a then-future contractor on May 15, 2021, said Space Centre Australia, a spaceport to be built east of Weipa, had “$100m committed investment from NAIF” and a $50m private equity investment.

Space Centre Australia CEO James Palmer has again come under fire from former staff, this time after making claims about funding commitments behind his spaceport project. Picture: Brendan Radke

In a separate email sent two days prior and addressed to the same person, Mr Palmer said he had secured $150m for the SCA program “subject to caveats and additional approvals”.

A NAIF spokesman said: “NAIF’s investment team remains in early stage discussion with the proponents of the Space Centre Australia project, but we can confirm we have not made any offer of financing support to the project. It would (be) incorrect and misleading for anyone to suggest otherwise. For NAIF to provide any investment support to this project, a number of stages would still need to occur.”

NAIF has a set of mandatory criteria which projects must satisfy to be considered for funding support, the spokesman said.

“This includes proponents demonstrating that the loan is able to be repaid or refinanced. NAIF works closely with proponents to understand the revenue streams for a project and how it may be able to repay a loan.

“Once our investment team is confident a project has the potential to meet NAIF’s mandatory criteria, it prepares a briefing for board endorsement, which if supported then goes into detailed due diligence. If this process is satisfactory, a full investment proposal is then taken to NAIF’s independent board to consider whether to approve any investment. Space Centre Australia has not commenced this process.

NAIF focuses on catalytic projects in the region north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Mr Palmer claimed in one email NAIF had committed a $100m investment into his spaceport project. A NAIF spokesman said there was no commitment. Picture: File photo

“NAIF will continue to work with the proponents of Space Centre Australia to assess information as it is provided. The timing of NAIF’s assessment processes is typically reliant on the status of the project and the availability of information from proponents.

“If NAIF does in the future decide to provide investment to Space Centre Australia, NAIF will disclose the investment decision in the usual way through … the Minister for Northern Australia, and the NAIF website.”

Palm Branch Group, another company Mr Palmer directed, was put into liquidation on December 18.

According to a liquidator’s report, Palm Branch Group owes $661,250 to creditors, including $218,000 to former employees, $380,000 to the ATO and $63,250 to unsecured creditor Stephen Hayes.

In one SCA document seen by the Cairns Post, Mr Hayes was listed as part of the “SCA executive team”.

When approached for comment, Mr Hayes said Mr Palmer had told him NAIF funding was committed.

The SCA project is a planned spaceport east of Weipa which several people have said would be a positive development for the Far North. Picture: SCA

“I was led to believe that there was $100m in funding committed from NAIF,” Mr Hayes said.

“Anybody that’s approached by James for this project needs to be very careful and validate any claims he makes about funding.”

Palm Branch Group creditor Nick Mullings, who was also listed as part of the SCA executive team on an SCA document, said in 2021 Mr Palmer led him to believe up to $150m in funding had been secured for the SCA project.

“He told me he had the money which was key information in convincing me to join the business,” Mr Mullings said.

“It became clear early on that SCA did not have the funds.”

Mr Mullings said he was involved in at least six meetings with NAIF and Mr Palmer.

“He would say both internally and externally he had no doubt the money would be forthcoming from NAIF. It became clear we did not have any committed investment. NAIF was always very interested in what the project could bring to Far North Queensland, but not committed. There was never a meeting I walked away from with NAIF where I thought we had the money in the bag,” Mr Mullings said.

When the Cairns Post contacted Mr Palmer prior to this story’s publication, he said it appeared “Mr Mullings has become a disgruntled former employee” and going forward he would not make any comments in response to claims by Mr Mullings regardless of whether “they be factual or not”.

A separate statement from Space Centre Australia said: “Space Centre Australia values the privacy and confidentiality of internal company business and employment matters. We understand the importance of maintaining discretion and professionalism in all our interactions, both within our organisation and with external parties. As SCA is a private company and unless we are required to do so by law it is our policy not to make public comments on specific business matters or the status of employees, contractors or associates. While we strive to maintain transparency and open communication with our stakeholders, we also recognise the need to protect sensitive information and uphold the trust placed in us by our employees and partners”.

Originally published as Space Centre Australia boss said he had $100m government funding ‘committed’ – government entity says he didn’t