LNP best to broker deal with Palmer

DESPITE his deeply conservative political roots, mining magnate Clive Palmer is proving to be somewhat troublesome for the LNP.

Premier Campbell Newman doesn’t want a bar of the outspoken former Southport High student, nor does his federal counterpart Tony Abbott.

Now it seems the Newman Government and Mr Palmer are headed to court over the LNP’s treatment of Mr Palmer’s Waratah Coal.

Mr Palmer says he’ll seek a judicial review if the Queensland Government can’t explain why a competitor beat him to a major rail project.

Waratah Coal lost out to rival GVKHancock in June to build a rail corridor to link the Bowen and Galilee basins with the Abbot Point coal terminal.

His lawyers wrote to Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Jeff Seeney yesterday, asking him to explain the decision.

Mr Palmer says he’s spent $100 million on the project and if the courts set aside the government’s decision to hand it to GVK-Hancock, he would seek to proceed.

It follows his much-publicised foray into federal politics, vowing to win LNP pre-selection for the seat of Lilley, to run against Treasurer Wayne Swan.

The federal branch of the Liberals has urged him to reconsider. In fact, Mr Abbott has gone out of his way to distance himself from Mr Palmer.

It seems they are happy to take his political donations but are not so keen to bring him inside the tent. This is a big issue for the conservatives because Mr Palmer is a walking headline.

He’s afraid of nothing and no one. If he doesn’t get his way, he’ll use his wealth to litigate. It could well end up messy.

The LNP needs to broker some sort of deal before it ends in tears.

Mr Palmer may be eccentric, brash and even unpredictable. But he commands a big cheque book and lists litigation as a hobby.

He’s not the sort of fellow with whom you want to get into a stoush.