Palmer’s dismissal attempt slammed

MINING magnate Clive Palmer’s failed attempt to have criminal charges against him dismissed have been likened to him playing “an enthusiastic game of Uno” by a judge overseeing the case.

Justice Peter O’callaghan has ordered a permanent stay of proceedings filed in the Supreme Court by Mr Palmer who was seeking to have charges currently before the Magistrates Court of Queensland thrown out.

The charges had stalled in the lower court pending the outcome of the Supreme Court stay applications but the drawn-out case will now be able to proceed in the lower court after years of delay.

In a judgment handed down on Wednesday, Justice Callaghan described the web of legal proceedings lodged by Mr Palmer and his companies as a calculated attempt to “fragment and or dislocate the processes of the courts”.

“Further applications have slapped onto the Registry counter like cards in an enthusiastic game of Uno,” he wrote of the legal battle.

In early 2020, Mr Palmer and his company Palmer Leisure Coolum were charged in relation to an alleged takeover bid of The Presidents Club with an offer to purchase shares and occupancy rights for villas at the embattled Coolum resort.

ASIC alleged that in June 2012 after publicly proposing to make a takeover bid for securities, Palmer Leisure Coolum (PLC) did not make the offer within the prescribed time frame.

As an individual Mr Palmer himself was charged with aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring PLC, of which he was a director, to commit the alleged offence. The corporate watchdog also slapped him with further charges including two counts of fraud and two counts of dishonest use of position as a company director.