Son says Mensink having too much fun to return home

THE son of fugitive Queensland Nickel director Clive Mensink has told a court it’s unlikely his dad will return to Australia because he’s having “too much fun” overseas.

Ryan Mensink yesterday gave evidence in the Federal Court that he had no idea where his dad was or how to contact him, despite still receiving sporadic financial help from his globetrotting father.

Clive Mensink, the nephew of businessman Clive Palmer, was the sole director of Queensland Nickel when it collapsed in early 2016 with $ 300 million in debts, leaving 800 people out of work.

He left the country months later in June, and has refused to return for questioning by liquidators, despite two outstanding arrest warrants.

Ryan Mensink, a finance officer for the Palmer- owned Waratah Coal, said he had last been in touch with his dad in February this year via the encrypted messaging service WhatsApp but had deleted the messages to avoid “the hassle” of having to provide them to the court if subpoenaed.

“Your evidence was you didn’t want to go through the hassle of producing the messages?” barrister David Sulan asked during a public examination in the Federal Court in Brisbane yesterday.

“Correct,” Mr Mensink said. “I deleted them ( the messages) earlier this year after I last spoke to him.” Asked if it would surprise him to learn his father spent time in Bulgaria, Mr Mensink said: “I would have the same level of surprise if he was spending his time in Antarctica.”

Mr Mensink, who said he last saw his father in Amsterdam in late 2016, told the court he did not know if he planned to come home. “Australia holds a lot of bad memories for him – my parents got divorced he probably doesn’t want to come back,” he said.

Mr Sulan asked: “So as far as you’re aware he intends to spend the rest of his life travelling because of these bad memories?”

Mr Mensink replied: “He’s probably having too much fun.”

Lawyers for Clive Palmer said he was also trying to comply with a court order to produce records of contact with his nephew but was slowed because searching the name “Clive” produced too much information because of their shared name.