Clive Palmer’s lawyers are expected to begin the billionaire businessman’s defence at the $100 million Queensland Nickel trial.

August 21, 2019

Clive Palmer’s legal team at the Queensland Nickel collapse trial is set to begin the billionaire businessman’s defence.

Mr Palmer is fighting a $100 million lawsuit brought by two sets of liquidators over the Townsville refinery’s 2016 demise.

They’re trying to claw back money they say is owed to unpaid creditors from Mr Palmer’s company, Mineralogy.

Liquidators allege the company received loans worth $115 million from the cash-strapped refinery but never repaid them.

The Brisbane Supreme Court trial has also heard about “extraordinary” deals worth $235 million, which were allegedly signed with Mr Palmer’s Galilee Basin mining projects.

Liquidators say the deals were uncommercial and occurred while QN was trading insolvently in the days before administrators arrived at the ailing refinery.

Mr Palmer vehemently denies the accusations, saying they’re baseless.

Lawyers for his companies will begin his defence on Wednesday. 

It follows an application on Monday by the same lawyers for the trial to be thrown out amid allegations liquidators are fee-chasing for their financial backers.

They say given Mr Palmer has already agreed to settle the majority of the claims against him, the pursuit of Mineralogy is “grossly unfair and disproportionate”.

Justice Debra Mullins also raised concerns about the liquidators’ funding arrangement, saying the potential windfall could be larger than the unpaid creditor claims.

She called on lawyers to provide more information about where the excess cash would go.

Earlier, Justice Mullins rejected the mining magnet’s request to have himself and his nephew Clive Mensink removed from the liquidators’ claim following the recent settlement agreement.

She said cost orders related to Mr Palmer’s attempt to postpone the trial on its first day prevented her from doing so.

Justice Mullins did, however, agree to his application to be excused from any further attendance at court.

“I was happy to make that order right from the word go,” she said.