Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au

Aaron Bunch
Palmer settles $88m Qld Nickel claim

Billionaire businessman Clive Palmer has agreed to pay liquidators $18 million to settle Queensland Nickel’s unpaid rail transport debts to Aurizon.

August 1, 2019

Clive Palmer has agreed to pay $18 million to settle an $88 million liquidators’ claim for unpaid Queensland Nickel rail transport fees.

It’s the first concession the billionaire businessman has made during his $200 million fight against liquidators over the collapse of the Townsville refinery in 2016.

A lawyer for the liquidators, Shane Doyle, broke the news of the settlement to the Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday, saying a resolution had been reached over Aurizon’s debts.

Mr Doyle did not say how much Mr Palmer and his co-defendants had agreed to pay, but an Aurizon statement suggests the confidential settlement was much less than the liquidators’ claim.

“Aurizon confirms it has settled claims with Queensland Nickel for outstanding rail haulage fees that were subject to liquidation proceedings,” the company said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

In 2016, Aurizon reported it had made provision for $18 million in bad debt owed by QN for outstanding rail haulage fees.

The company estimated an additional $70 million would be foregone in revenue from the lost contract, but that amount is understood to have not been settled.

The Aurizon claim breakthrough followed two nights of behind-the-scenes discussions between Mr Palmer and the liquidators of the refinery, which was shut down by administrators with the loss of 555 jobs

Mr Doyle also hinted Mr Palmer may soon settle more of the liquidator’s claims while requesting Justice Debra Mullins adjourn the trial for another day.

“The position is there’s been continuing discussions between the (liquidators) and the defendants, which has the prospect (and) which is improving, I think, of substantially reducing the issues being tried in this case,” he said.

“We hope to advance that overnight.”

Mr Palmer was again a no show in the court on Thursday and no admissions regarding the Aurizon debt resolution has been made by the former federal MP.

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 ultimately led to the refinery closing three months later.

Mr Palmer has been contacted for comment.

The trial continues on Friday.

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