Palmer’s Titanic announcement branded a stunt
CONTROVERSIAL businessman and political campaigner Clive Palmer says he will bring a replica of the Titanic he wants to build to Townsville for its first voyage.
But the wife of a former worker at his closed nickel refinery says it’s just a media stunt.
Mr Palmer addressed media and the North Queensland Club yesterday showing a 15- minute video containing footage of what the ship will look like and interviews with representatives of businesses he has commissioned to undertake the ship’s planning.
Mr Palmer has long advocated his dream of building Titanic II and earlier this year, after winning a legal case providing his company Mineralogy with hundreds of millions of dollars in iron ore royalties, announced he was recommencing the project.
He has also pledged to reopen the Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery closed in 2016. Mr Palmer said Titanic II’s first voyage would be to Townsville.
“Its visit will put Townsville on the world map, showcasing the destination’s enormous tourism potential as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef,” Mr Palmer said. He said the ship would be completed in 2022 “on the current schedule” and that six companies were vying to build it.
“We’ve allocated half a billion dollars of my cash, we’ve got it sitting in the bank, for this project as a starter,” Mr Palmer said.
But the partner of a former worker at his refinery, Ange Bramwell, said Mr Palmer had been talking about building the replica for eight years.
“I think it’s just a media stunt for publicity,” Ms Bramwell said. She said other wealthy business people did not talk about what they would do, they did it.