CLIVE’S RATE BIG MESS
EXCLUSIVE Palmer companies owe city council $ 1.2 million
CLIVE Palmer- owned companies owe more than $ 1.2 million in rates to Townsville City Council, having not made payments for his Yabulu nickel refinery since June 2016.
The Bulletin can reveal the council considered seizing ownership of the refinery but decided against it because Chain of Responsibility legislation meant ratepayers would be left with the cost of getting it up and running again.
Mayor Jenny Hill yesterday said joint venture companies QNI Metals and QNI Resources, which own the refinery, were in arrears of more than $ 1.2 million for rates and utilities charges.
CLIVE Palmer- owned companies owe more than $ 1.2 million in rates to Townsville City Council, having not made payments for his Yabulu nickel refinery since June 2016.
It comes as Mayor Jenny Hill revealed two offshore investors had contacted the council expressing interest in buying the refinery.
The council has considered seizing ownership of the refinery but due to Chain of Responsibility legislation decided against it as the onus of bringing the plant up to stringent environmental standards would fall on ratepayers.
Cr Hill said Mr Palmer’s joint venture companies QNI Metals and QNI Resources, which own the refinery, were in arrears of more than $ 1.2 million for rates and utilities charges.
She said a payment plan had been entered into last year but the payments stopped by June.
“We are now a secured creditor as everyone else is,” she said.
“The problem for us is because of the legislation around the Chain of Responsibility Act, if we sell ( the refinery) … the community would be responsible for getting it back up and running.”
It comes as the price of nickel continued to strengthen this month – up from $ US4.52/ lb on July 25 to $ US5.25/ lb on August 22.
Documents filed in the Supreme Court this week revealed Mr Palmer could offload his refinery for its replacement valuation of $ 790 million and that it would cost at least $ 50 million to get it up and running again.
While Cr Hill would not disclose who the interested overseas parties were, she believed their approach was “genuine”.
“Their advice to me was they were having difficulty negotiating a price,” she said.
“If council wasn’t at risk for the Act we would have closed and sold ( the refinery) sooner.”
Mr Palmer’s companies still have liability to maintain the site, with a skeleton crew monitoring extensive chemical holdings.
“What we would all love is for him to sell it. In my opinion it’s only worth $ 1 because of the cost of bringing the plant up to operational standards and the funds that need to be set aside,” Cr Hill said.
“Nickel and cobalt are essential in making things like mobile phones so the greater the demand the better the price.”
Cr Hill said the money owed would be attained through liquidators following court settlements.
Townsville MP Scott Stewart said due to the property being privately owned, the State Government had no jurisdiction over the refinery.
But he said he would love to see the opportunity for jobs.
“We could look for possible future proponents if the opportunity arises,” he said.
Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said if elected the LNP could use Trade and Investment Queensland to seek out potential investors.
“( We would) let them know that the infrastructure is in place, there is a workforce and allow people to get back into the factory and then remove red tape and unnecessary burdens,” he said.
Mr Palmer could not be reached for comment yesterday.
On Wednesday, he gave an undertaking in the Supreme Court that he would not sell the refinery in the next month, until a judge decides on a legal bid by governmentappointed liquidators for Queensland Nickel to freeze more than $ 200 million of his assets.