The first witnesses at a trial into the collapse of Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel refinery are expected to give evidence about a worthless $235 million deal.

July 22, 2019

Mining experts are expected to be the first witnesses to testify at the trial into the collapse of Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel refinery when it resumes.

Liquidators are chasing the billionaire businessman for about $200 million in the Brisbane Supreme Court, which they say was owed to creditors when the Townsville refinery shut down in April 2016.

A team of special liquidators is also tasked with recovering almost $70 million in taxpayer funds used to cover unpaid entitlements to about 800 workers let go from the cash-strapped refinery.

The court has previously heard that as QN hurtled towards collapse, the ailing company was $25 million in the red and losing $5 million more each a month with creditors circling.

Despite this, in the days before administrators were called, QN allegedly signed mining deals worth $235 million to pay Mr Palmer ahead of workers and suppliers.

The “extraordinary” agreements were allegedly made just days before QN let go of 218 workers in January 2016 and last-ditch attempts to secure finance from banks and government failed.

A lawyer for the liquidators Graham Gibson says the shares and tenements in the two mining projects owned by Mr Palmer were of no commercial benefit to QN and worthless.

“There is only one purpose that is evident from this transaction … that purpose was to prefer the interests of the Palmer parties, Mr Palmer ultimately … over the interest of all other unsecured creditors,” he said.

“Extraordinary is, in fact, an understatement.”

The trial continues on Monday when all eyes are likely to be on Mr Palmer’s seat in court.

The former federal MP has already missed much of the first two days of the nine-week trial, prompting Justice Debra Mullins to raise concerns about his absence on several occasions.