Clive Palmer’s $1 billion Queensland Nickel hearing split as judge orders Campbell Jaski testify over

A hearing of Clive Palmer’s $1 billion Queensland Nickel action has been split after the royalties mogul won last-minute approval to call evidence from a former foe. While a substantial part of Mr Palmer’s legal claim will be heard over 10 days from Monday, WA Supreme Court judge Michael Lundberg has put a six-week hold on evidence about post-collapse asset valuations. CITIC Pacific is fighting Mr Palmer’s claim that Queensland Nickel’s January 2016 collapse was caused by delays in the Hong Kong-listed group paying him disputed royalties from its Sino Ore project. Despite vigorous objections from CITIC, Justice Lundberg ruled on Friday afternoon that Mr Palmer call Melbourne insolvency accountant Campbell Jaski to be quizzed about a valuation report written in September 2017. The report and related affidavit by Mr Jaski were used by Federally funded special purpose liquidators in a Supreme Court of Queensland application for freezing orders against Mr Palmer and related companies. While defending himself against the freezing action and cross-examining Mr Jaski, Mr Palmer reportedly criticised the accountant for having agreed to do the report given the special-purpose liquidators were also partners at insolvency firm PPB. Mr Jaski had estimated the shut Yabulu refinery’s assets were valued between $119.4 million to $168.3m as at August 31, 2017. Mr Palmer struck a settlement deal with the special purpose liquidators in 2018. The figures from the Jaski report were quoted in a Federal Court application for approval of the truce. The Queensland billionaire now wants to use the report to show his alleged losses from the collapse of Queensland Nickel, whose plant and equipment was valued at almost $800m in June 2015. Mr Palmer’s legal team made the last-ditch application to call Mr Jaski as a witness on Thursday, two days after Justice Lundberg rejected an expert completed in February estimating a post-collapse value for Yabulu assets. Justice Lundberg said CITIC would need time to consider its response to Mr Jaski’s report, including what further evidence might be sought from its valuation expert Greg Meredith. Alongside experts called by Mr Palmer, Mr Meredith will testify over the next fortnight about the value of Queensland Nickel assets as a going concern. Evidence about the value of Yabulu as a non-going concern will be put off until at least August 4 given that aspect of Mr Palmer’s now appears to hinge on Mr Jaski’s 2017 report. Justice Lundberg said Ms Jaski would not take part in the customary pre-hearing expert conferral, nor would he give testify alongside Mr Meredith. “I don’t think it is appropriate for Mr Jaski to confer with Mr Meredith before they give evidence,” he said. “It is more the old fashioned way of the evidence being adduced — with Mr Meredith and Mr Jaski giving evidence at different times.” He ordered the lawyers talk over the weekend about sorting out the scope of Mr Jaski’s potential evidence and any responses.