Liquidators of Queensland Nickel have been forced to seek fresh court summonses to grill Clive Palmer and his associates after the outgoing federal MP hit them with a compensation claim blaming them for the demise of the business.
Lawyers for FTI Consulting were due to question Palmer’s nephew and Queensland Nickel managing director Clive Mensink in the federal court on Tuesday but failed to serve him in person before he went on holiday to Hong Kong.
It came after Palmer, who faces being pursued over the alleged siphoning of $224m from Queensland Nickel, ramped up his legal counter-attack in a lawsuit accusing FTI Consulting of triggering the collapse of his Townsville refinery after the firm was sacked as administrators.
The court issued fresh summonses for Mensink, Palmer and Queensland Nickel general manager Ian Ferguson to appear on dates to be fixed, with no less than eight days’ written notice.
Chris Curtis, acting for the liquidators, told the court Mensink had “acknowledged service [of the old summons] by email … however there needs to be personal service [and] he is in Hong Kong”.
“We haven’t served the others,” Curtis said.
Mensink’s lawyer Brendan Nyst told reporters outside court his client was “happy to appear before the examination if he’s properly served”.
Nyst said he could only speculate as to why liquidators had not done so before the old summons lapsed.
Palmer, in a claim filed against four FTI Consulting staff in the Queensland supreme court, alleged FTI Consulting withheld assets from cash to nickel stock and a fleet of 40 vehicles, leading to the loss of “essential leases and contracts” needed to keep the operation afloat.
While Palmer has previously said the claim would be for $1.2bn, court papers only state his companies QNI Metals and QNI Resources – which own the refinery run by Queensland Nickel in a joint venture – seek “equitable compensation” or “alternatively, damages for breach of contract”.
In its final report, FTI alleged it had evidence of Palmer acting as a “shadow director” in allegedly uncommercial director-related transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars. These allegedly took place prior to Queensland Nickel going into voluntary administration in January.
These allegedly included money paid to Palmer’s political party and his close relatives, and for mines, a vintage car collection, golf courses, resorts and the tycoon’s ill-fated quest to build a replica of the Titanic.
It said there may be evidence of “reckless conduct” by Palmer and Mensink which could result in criminal charges. FTI Consulting’s John Park later said he expected the liquidator’s actions, including the gathering of evidence through public examinations and attempts to recover funds, to be “vigorously defended”.
However, Palmer’s lawsuit seeks a court order that he, as chairman of a joint venture owners committee, “was at all material times empowered to provide the general manager with directions in respect of the duties and responsibilities of the general manager”.
The lawsuit also rejects FTI Consulting’s claim it is owed $16.4m by Palmer’s parent companies for its administration duties.
It claims the damage from the fallout of FTI’s administration includes “loss of installed assets at the Port of Townsville valued at $214.5m”.
Palmer installed a company called Queensland Nickel Sales as operator of the joint venture in place of Queensland Nickel after administrators requested more funds to keep the business afloat.
FTI then dismissed the remainder of Queensland Nickel’s workforce amid promises by Palmer that they would be given job offers. Those job offers are yet to materialise.
Almost 800 workers lost their jobs before Queensland Nickel went into liquidation in April with debts of more than $300m.
Palmer in a statement on Tuesday said it was “time to bring John Park to account and make him pay for the damages he has caused families in north Queensland by his decision to close the refinery and to reject the financial package I had arranged to keep everyone employed”.
The commonwealth has installed its own special purpose liquidator to act alongside FTI Consulting in proceedings to claw back almost $70m it will contribute in workers’ entitlements.
Palmer in recent days flagged moves to reopen the refinery under a new operating company, seeking expressions of interest from workers to begin later in the year.
The refinery has been temporarily mothballed under the care of a skeleton staff of 40.
