First it was Nathan Tinkler, now Clive Palmer, from The Australian:
Clive Palmer’s teetering business empire could come crashing down as early as today, with the federal MP warning he will be forced to put his Queensland Nickel refinery into administration and sack almost 800 workers.
Mr Palmer last night failed in an urgent bid to win funding from his estranged Chinese business partners to keep the Townsville refinery afloat.
The West Australian Supreme Court was told Mr Palmer would take the drastic action to close the business unless the Chinese government-owned Citic was ordered to pay $US48 million ($66m) by last night. Judge Paul Tottle ruled Citic did not have to pay the money and cast doubt on whether Queensland Nickel had exhausted all avenues to avoid collapse.
In an extraordinary day, Mr Palmer looked on in court as his lawyers detailed the severe financial pressures within the federal MP’s various businesses.
The court heard that five Australian banks knocked back Mr Palmer for loans to keep his Queensland Nickel refinery afloat, despite the company’s official accounts valuing its assets at $1.9 billion and its debts at just $23m. Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ, NAB and Suncorp refused to lend money to the struggling refinery, Mr Couper said.
More and richer Boganaires are ahead.
