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Palmer denies having full financial control of Queensland Nickel before collapse

Friday, 9 Sep 2016 05:13:43 | Andrew Kos

Mr Palmer last appeared at a Federal Court hearing on August 26. (ABC News: Andrew Kos)

Businessman and former federal MP Clive Palmer has denied having full financial control over Queensland Nickel in the year before its collapse at a Federal Court hearing in Brisbane where he is being questioned by the company's liquidators.

The Queensland Nickel refinery at Yabulu in Townsville went into voluntary administration in January with debts totalling $300 million.

Federal Government-appointed liquidators have been questioning former QNI executives this week to try to claw back almost $70 million in entitlements paid to Queensland Nickel sacked workers.

Mr Palmer arrived for today's hearing with personal security guards.

Focus on directorship of company

In the witness box, Mr Palmer gave his occupation as retired and a company director.

Liquidators have probed Mr Palmer about whether he acted as a shadow managing director in the days before the company's collapse.

He repeatedly told the hearing he had an obligation to make decisions in relation to Queensland Nickel as chairman of a joint venture committee involving his other companies.

But he said that involvement only related to the property of the company, not all expenditure.

He denied suggestions by Tom Sullivan QC that he gave full directions to QNI's personnel over its financial decision making.

Mr Palmer was also questioned about the whereabouts of former managing director of Queensland Nickel, his nephew Clive Mensink.

He told the hearing he believed his nephew was in Berlin and had spoken to him by mobile phone.

Palmer held three short tenures as director from 2013-15

Counsel for Mr Palmer addressed the court, making it clear his client was appearing by summons.

Mr Palmer claimed privilege before answering many questions, including why he stepped down as director of Queensland Nickel for short periods between 2013 and 2015.

The court heard Mr Palmer first stepped down as a director of Queensland Nickel in 2013 when he took on a role to try and oust the then-Queensland premier Campbell Newman.

"I didn't like [former Queensland premier] Campbell Newman and I wanted to be involved in getting rid of him," Mr Palmer told the court.

Mr Palmer was subsequently a director in 2014 and stepped down again when he became a federal MP.

He again held a short directorship role in 2015 when Mr Mensink was going through a divorce.

He said he could not recall having a discussion with Mr Mensink before appointing him secretary to the company.

"I just recall giving a direction to remove him — I recall telling someone to get him off the board," he said.

Diary under scrutiny

Most of today's focus was on a notepad or a diary that Mr Palmer was recording about the joint venture agreement set up between Queensland Nickel, QNI Metals and QNI Resources.

The court heard Mr Palmer only wrote in that diary he had kept since 2009 using a pencil, not a pen, and it had related to any decisions made about that joint venture agreement.

Mr Palmer was asked if he used pens to write with, to which he replied: "I write with all sorts of things."

"I had a pencil at the time and had it in a spiral book."

He would often sign off decisions either verbally or writing in this diary, signing three different times for those three different companies.

But he constantly denied making directions directly to Queensland Nickel.

He said all the directions he made had been through this joint venture agreement of which he was chairman.

This is a key in the case because lawyers are trying to ascertain if Mr Palmer acted as a director of Queensland Nickel in the lead-up to its collapse when he was not a listed director.

Mr Palmer fought against the summons to give evidence in court about QNI's collapse.

He personally appeared in the Federal Court on August 26 and argued he needed more time to prepare for the hearing, but the court rejected that request.

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