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Category: Clive Palmer / Mining Industry / Business, Economics and Finance

Creditors vote to liquidate Queensland Nickel

Friday, 22 Apr 2016 10:14:51

Mining executive Clive Palmer speaks at a news conference in February, 2012. (AAP: John Pryke, file photo)

Creditors of Clive Palmer's Queensland Nickel have voted to liquidate the company, a fortnight after administrators made the recommendation amid crippling debt.

Key points:

  • Liquidation move will allow pursuit of any Clive Palmer debts
  • Administrators urged liquidation in report earlier this month
  • Sacked workers among creditors voting to liquidate

Creditors, including 800 sacked workers, agreed at a meeting in Townsville to wind up the company.

Administrators told the meeting that liquidators will now be able to pursue Clive Palmer for debts owed.

Workers are owed more than $70 million but the meeting has been told almost $60 million will be covered by the Federal Government's entitlements scheme.

One worker told the ABC he was happy it was all over.

"I think a lot of them are happy it's over too, it's been lingering for a long time," he said.

"There's light at the end of the tunnel, it's good."

More than $150 million is owed to unsecured creditors.

Administrators FTI Consulting found in early April that Queensland Nickel, which went into voluntary administration last year, had been used as Mr Palmer's "personal piggy bank".

In its report, FTI Consulting found the Townsville refinery could have survived the drop in nickel prices if millions of dollars had not been shifted from it to Mr Palmer's other businesses.

FTI Consulting pointed to a possible breach of fiduciary and common law duties by a director or officer of the company and criticised Mr Palmer and his nephew and former QN director Clive Mensink for being "reckless".

The report said that between November 2012 and June 2013, Mr Palmer instructed QN to transfer $43 million to a number of entities, including nearly $15 million to himself.

QN also paid for 60 vintage cars, which ended up at Mr Palmer's Coolum resort's Motorama Museum.

AustraliaPlus


 

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