A lawyer for Clive Palmer’s companies has hinted another deal with Queensland Nickel liquidators is being negotiated outside court.

August 2, 2019

Another Clive Palmer deal over the Queensland Nickel collapse is brewing as lawyers at the $200 million liquidation trial enter their fourth night of behind-the-scene talks.

On Thursday, the billionaire businessman made his first concession during his massive lawsuit against liquidators in the Brisbane Supreme Court, following the Townsville refinery’s collapse in 2016.

The mining magnate, who has previously said he has “a moral responsibility” to fight liquidators, agreed to pay $18 million to settle an $88 million claim for Aurizon’s unpaid rail transport fees, the largest creditor claim against him.

The news of the Aurizon claim breakthrough was swiftly followed by a top lawyer for the liquidators, Shane Doyle, saying they “hoped to advance” other issues between them and the defendants with more talks.

Late on Friday afternoon, a lawyer for Mr Palmer’s companies, Dr Chris Ward SC, excused himself from the court to re-enter those talks saying he’d return within the hour.

“There’s been movement in discussions between the parties and it would assist if I was in a room with Mr Doyle,” he told Justice Debra Mullins.

But at the close of the day’s proceedings, Mr Ward and Mr Doyle were still in talks and no information about the prospective deal was shared with the court.

It was left to another lawyer for the liquidators, Graham Gibson, to ask Justice Debra Mullins to adjourn the matter to Monday.

Despite the progress being made resolving the three-year stand-off, Mr Palmerwas again a no show at court on Friday.

He’s been absent since Tuesday, when he told Justice Mullins he needed to take a day off from the trial to brief an expert witness, who is expected to testify that QN wasn’t trading insolvently in the months before Mr Palmer’s team called in administrators.

The court has previously heard that as the refinery hurtled towards collapse in late 2015, the ailing company was $25 million in the red and losing $5 million more each month with creditors circling.

The refinery’s debt-riddled predicament came to a head in January 2016 when Aurizon rejected Mr Palmer’s team’s payment plan for their rail transport debts and threatened to suspend its services.

QN then entered voluntary administration, which led to the refinery closing three months later.

The trial continues on Monday.