Map: Townsville 4810
Taxpayers may have to fund more than $70 million in payouts for Queensland Nickel (QNI) workers if the company goes into liquidation. Key points:
Administrators FTI Consulting recommended winding up the Townsville-based operation, with creditors due to vote on the decision later this month.
Sacked workers are owed $74 million from the company, which FTI Consulting said had suffered under the "reckless" actions of Clive Palmer and his nephew and former QNI director Clive Mensink.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said the Government was still going through the report on the company, which needs to go into liquidation before any funds can be released under the Fair Entitlement Guarantee scheme.
Senator Cash told the ABC that the taxpayer-funded scheme, described as a "last resort", could see more than $70 million being released.
"If the Government does exercise its discretion and release the funds, currently the outstanding entitlements are estimated to be approximately $73 million," she said.
"$73 million of taxpayers' money will be potentially released."
Senator Cash also took aim at Mr Palmer, who the administrators believe acted as a "shadow/de facto director" of Queensland Nickel up until the January, and redirected millions of dollars away from the refinery.
"Clive is responsible for this," she said.
"Clive is morally obliged, quite frankly, to pay over the entitlements to these workers. I think it is a disgrace that Clive Palmer may well get off the hook."
Townsville-based MP Ewen Jones shared the criticisms, but said the chances of "getting the money out of Clive Palmer in the short term are next to nil".
Mr Jones, a staunch critic of Mr Palmer, said that Senator Cash had been working behind the scenes to ensure the entitlements could be paid out as soon as possible if the Government went ahead.
But he told the ABC that he had no firm timeline for payments.
"I don't know whether it will be Saturday or Monday," he said.
"We now know that this thing looks like 99.9 per cent of going into liquidation, that the Fair Entitlement Guarantee will be enacted and that we will step forward with whatever entitlements that we can provide under the legislation."
Mr Jones also dismissed criticism by the Opposition over the timing of the potential payments.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten yesterday said that the Prime Minister should "green light" the payments as soon as possible.
Photo: Clive Palmer has been blamed for Queensland Nickel's money woes. (ABC: Nick Haggarty)
