Clive Palmer’s companies hobbled Queensland Nickel’s administrators as they fought to save the ailing refinery and save hundreds of jobs, a court has heard.

July 25, 2019

As Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel hurtled towards collapse, the billionaire businessman’s own companies torpedoed the administrators providing life support to the ailing refinery, a court has heard.

The bold move, less than a week after administrators were appointed to the cash-strapped refinery in 2016, allegedly stripped QN of its role as operations manager and left the administrators trying to revive the company without a revenue stream.

Three months later, the debt-laden Townsville refinery was forced to shut down and hundreds of workers were let go, many without being paid their entitlements.

Now, Mr Palmer is fighting a massive lawsuit against liquidators in the Brisbane Supreme Court, who are trying to claw back about $200 million they say was is owed to creditors.

On Thursday, administrator Kelly-Anne Trenfield told the court that when her team arrived at QN the company was losing $1 million a week and was about $10 million in the red.

A week later, Mr Palmer’s companies removed QN as manager of the refinery and were asking for access to the company’s bank account, she said on Thursday.

“We were effectively left with 550 employees to pay and to cover their wages and ongoing liabilities … with no actual ability to operate a business or generate revenue.”

The court heard that when administrators refused to sign over the bank accounts and remaining QN cash, Mr Palmer’s companies reneged on their offer to employ the refinery’s staff.

During an hour-and-a-half of cross-examination, Mr Palmer questioned Ms Trenfield about his companies’ promises to take on QN’s liabilities if the administrators transferred the cash to them.

She said the joint venture parties and Mr Palmer had repeatedly offered to fund QN during administration but none of the funding agreements had come to fruition.

“I valued that undertaking as being worthless,” she said.

Earlier, Justice Debra Mullins took aim at Mr Palmer’s written submissions to the court, which she said clearly showed the mining magnate had been assisted by a lawyer.

She suggested Mr Palmer clearly label any future submissions with the name of the lawyer who helps him.

“Otherwise it’s a little misleading to emphasise your self represented litigant status when it appears to me there has been some assistance from lawyers in your submissions,” she said.

“I think it should be a bit more transparent.”

It followed another rebuke of the entire Palmer camp for their tardy efforts finding a replacement expert witness after their first pick pulled out days before trial began.

“One of the things I am disappointed about Mr Palmer is that the defendants don’t seem to have got Mr Hughes’ (the expert insolvency witness) firm to act with urgency,” she said after learning he was in Brazil and wouldn’t be available to begin work until next week.

“I mean, you’re in the middle of a trial … somehow, the expert has got to be shown he can’t have a leisurely approach to this.”