The former MP says he offered to settle the debts of the company, which collapsed owing about $300m

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Clive Palmer says he once offered to pay the debts of Queensland Nickel and that he will seek to halt legal proceedings against the failed company.

The former federal MP has faced the supreme court in Brisbane, claiming there had been an “abuse of process” and that legal proceedings involving the nickel company should stop.

“The whole matter should be dismissed, it’s a witch hunt against me for political purposes,” he said.

He said he would seek a permanent stay of proceedings, while also saying he had offered to pay what creditors were owed by Queensland Nickel, which collapsed in 2016 with debts of about $300m.

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“We offered to settle the whole administration with cash prior to the liquidation and that was rejected,” Palmer told the court on Wednesday. “If all of the expenses are paid, 100% in cash, there is no indemnity because there is no obligation.”

Palmer said he had instructed Queensland Nickel’s director, his nephew Clive Mensink, to pay whatever it cost to keep operations going.

“I instructed Mr Mensink, ‘Don’t let the company go into liquidation, don’t let anyone lose their job, we will pay whatever we have to pay to keep the business open,’” he said. “We had the money, we offered it to them and they wouldn’t take it.”

The decision to refuse the money caused the sacking of 550 people, he said.

The application for a permanent stay of proceedings will be made in late May or early June, Palmer told Justice John Bond.

Palmer also argued against consolidating the many ongoing matters into one court process because he would seek to have those matters discontinued. He also claimed there were up to 37 million documents that could be relevant.

Palmer has been locked in legal battles with Queensland Nickel’s liquidators and has repeatedly defended how the company was run before it went belly-up with the loss of hundreds of nickel refinery jobs in Townsville.

Taxpayer-funded special liquidators have so far cost about $8.6m, the court heard.

He has been fighting a legal battle to freeze his assets and in February this year claimed he was worth $4bn.

But he said he would not spend any of his fortune reopening the Townsville refinery if liquidators succeeded in freezing his assets.