Letter ‘proof’ Clive Palmer offered to drop High Court border challenge if damages claim was heard outside WA

Clive Palmer last week offered to withdraw his High Court challenge of WA’s border closure if the State Government agreed for his $30 billion damages claim hearings to be held in Canberra, it has been revealed. Attorney General John Quigley tabled in Parliament a letter with the offer which was sent by Thomas Browning, the in-house lawyer for Mr Palmer’s Mineralogy company, to the State Government on August 2. The correspondence was sent the same day that Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced he would withdraw the Commonwealth’s involvement in Mr Palmer’s border challenge. The letter said if the dispute over his iron ore interests does not settle at mediation, Mr Palmer and his lawyer must be able to attend the arbitration hearing in person in Perth. “As the State cannot guarantee those parties entry to Western Australia, the only option is for Mineralogy to be successful in its High Court challenge and for the arbitration hearings to be held in Perth or, alternatively, for the parties to agree the arbitration hearings can be held outside Western Australia,” Mr Browning wrote. “If the State can agree for the arbitration hearing being held in Canberra, Mineralogy could be agreeable to withdraw its High Court challenge on that basis with each party to pay their own costs. “I can explore this option if the State thinks it has merit.” Mark McGowan told Parliament the document was “proof” the only reason Mr Palmer wanted to bring down WA’s border was so that he “could take the State for $30 billion”. Mr Quigley said the document showed Mr Palmer did not care about the State border closure, but wanted to get his legal team into Perth “to plunder Western Australia for $30 billion”. “Western Australia has received an offer of settlement from Clive Palmer, an offer to withdraw the High Court action and in the terms of the offer, he exposes himself to be the liar and fraudster that he is,” the A-G said. Earlier, Mr Palmer told The West Australian he would consider dropping his legal challenge once the Federal Court delivers its determination of the facts and a decision on whether to order a retrial following the Commonwealth’s withdrawal.