Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has urged Clive Palmer to "put his money up" to help workers sacked from the Queensland Nickel refinery, saying it is the least the magnate could do.

Key points: Taxpayer-funded scheme would be a last resort

Taxpayer-funded scheme would be a last resort Outstanding entitlements are about $73 million

Outstanding entitlements are about $73 million Clive Palmer "morally obliged" to pay workers' entitlements, Michaelia Cash says

Taxpayers may have to fund more than $70 million in payouts for Queensland Nickel (QNI) workers if the company goes into liquidation.

Administrators FTI Consulting recommended winding up the Townsville-based operation, with creditors due to vote on the decision later this month.

Sacked workers are owed in excess of $73 million from the company, which FTI Consulting said had suffered under the "reckless" actions of Fairfax MP Mr Palmer and his nephew and former QNI director Clive Mensink.

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said the Government was still going through the report on the company, which needed to go into liquidation before any funds could be released under the Fair Entitlement Guarantee scheme.

Senator Cash told the ABC the taxpayer-funded scheme, described as a "last resort", could see more than $70 million being released.

"If the Government does exercise its discretion and release the funds, currently the outstanding entitlements are estimated to be approximately $73 million," she said.

"$73 million of taxpayers' money will be potentially released."

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Senator Cash also took aim at Mr Palmer, who the administrators believe acted as a "shadow/de facto director" of Queensland Nickel up until January, and redirected millions of dollars away from the refinery.

"Clive is responsible for this," she said.

"Clive is morally obliged, quite frankly, to pay over the entitlements to these workers.

"I think it is a disgrace that Clive Palmer may well get off the hook."

Senator Cash told Sky News a decision would be made within 48 hours.

PM tells Palmer to 'put his money up'

Mr Turnbull called on Mr Palmer to pay the entitlements himself, saying it was "the very least he could do".

"He's built himself up as a great business leader and a great philanthropist," Mr Turnbull told 6PR Radio in Perth.

"Let's just see Mr Palmer put his money up.

"There are men and women there in Townsville who have lost their jobs — they are entitled to payments. Mr Palmer should make those good.

"That's the very least he could do in these circumstances, and I call on him to do just that."

Townsville-based MP Ewen Jones shared the criticisms, but said the chances of "getting the money out of Clive Palmer in the short term are next to nil".

Mr Jones, a staunch critic of Mr Palmer, said Senator Cash had been working behind the scenes to ensure the entitlements could be paid out as soon as possible if the Government went ahead.

But he told the ABC that he had no firm timeline for payments.

"I don't know whether it will be Saturday or Monday," he said.

"We now know that this thing looks like 99.9 per cent of going into liquidation, that the Fair Entitlement Guarantee will be enacted and that we will step forward with whatever entitlements that we can provide under the legislation."

Mr Jones also dismissed criticism by the Opposition over the timing of the potential payments.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said on Tuesday Mr Turnbull should "green light" the payments as soon as possible.

Palmer vows to prove administrators' claims are false

He said he would release documents later on Wednesday that "prove the allegations made by the administrators are false".

In a statement, Mr Palmer said: "At no time did I act as a shadow director.

"The truth of the matter is the administrators are embarking on a campaign to secure more funds for their exorbitant fees."

As well as workers' entitlements, taxpayers may also face a multi-million-dollar bill to clean up the site of Mr Palmer's Yabulu refinery.

The cost of remediating the Queensland Nickel site could be anywhere from $25 million to $40 million, Queensland Government sources told the ABC in January.

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