Clive Frederick Palmer, an Australian businessman and politician, was born on March 26, 1954. He owns coal, nickel, and iron ore. Palmer is the owner of numerous companies, including Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel in Townsville, the Palmer Coolum Resort on the Sunshine Coast, Palmer Sea Reef Golf Club in Port Douglas, Palmer Colonial Golf Club in Robina, and Palmer Gold Coast Golf Club in Robina as well. From 2008 to 2012, he was the owner of Gold Coast United FC. After winning the Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax in the 2013 Australian federal election and serving as an MP for one term, Palmer founded the Palmer United Party in April of that year.
In 2018, Palmer resurrected his party as the United Australia Party after legally deregistering it on May 5, 2017. He announced that he would be running candidates for all 151 House of Representatives seats and later that he would run as a Queensland candidate for the Senate. Despite heavy advertising, he and his party failed to win any seats in the 2019 federal election. Later, his party ran in the 2022 federal election and was successful in winning one Senate seat. In September 2022, the party was formally deregistered once more.
Palmer once identified litigation as one of his interests in Who's Who and has regularly been embroiled in legal disputes involving his companies. He has occasionally been involved in difficult cases, and according to journalist Hedley Thomas, Palmer's "lawyers take legal steps, presumably on his instructions, that prolong litigation and rack up costs for the other side," which can make it difficult for his opponents to continue their case because of a lack of funding. Palmer has maintained that his legal battle is appropriate since it righteous wrongs. Palmer additionally made an effort to intimidate his former Queensland Nickel refinery employees through litigation by threatening to pay the money he owed them.
Early Life & Business Career
Palmer was born on March 26, 1954, at Footscray Hospital in the Melbourne, Victoria district of Footscray. He grew up in the neighbourhood suburb of Williamstown. Palmer was primarily raised on the Gold Coast, where he attended Aquinas College and Southport State High School, although he briefly attended Toowoomba Grammar School after his family moved to Queensland in 1963. Palmer's father, George, worked as a travel agent, and the family took frequent trips abroad. George Palmer founded Melbourne radio station 3AK (now known as SEN 1116), as well as the Akron Tyre Co. and the Akron radio Co.
Palmer attended the University of Queensland from 1973 to 1975 to study law, journalism, and politics, but he did not complete the programme. Later, after earning his Diploma in Law from the Queensland Bar Board, he worked for the Public Defender's Office as a clerk and an interviewer.
Palmer worked as a real estate agent in the early to mid-1980s. He prospered from the Gold Coast real estate boom and "retired" at the age of 29.
Palmer established three businesses that carried out mining exploration in Western Australia (WA) between 1985 and 1986. The Pilbara Ranges in remote northern Western Australia's Mineralogy had 160 billion tonnes (160 109 long tonnes; 180 109 short tonnes) of iron ore reserves as of 2006. Palmer acquired Waratah Coal in 2008. Palmer moved Mineralogy to Singapore in January 2019 after moving it to New Zealand in December 2018.
In 2009, after BHP announced plans to shut down the refinery, he purchased Queensland Nickel and the Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery. After buying the refinery, Palmer gave its employees 50 Mercedes Benz automobiles and thousands of abroad vacation days in the first year. Queensland Nickel entered voluntary administration on January 18, 2016. With the excuse that "I have no personal responsibility," "I retired from business more than three years ago," Palmer refused to pay the entitlements of workers who lost their employment when Queensland Nickel collapsed. He also attributed the dismissal of the staff to the administrators. The Federal Government was compelled by this to pay the workers' entitlements.
Politics
In the 1970s, Palmer participated actively in the Liberal Movement led by Steele Hall, a former South Australian premier. As a result of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's policies as Queensland's premier at the time, he joined the Queensland branch of the Nationals in 1974. His involvement in state politics dates back to the early 1980s. He directed the National Party's campaign in the successful 1983 state election and served as its media spokesperson in the 1986 election campaign.
Net worth
Palmer's net worth was expected to be A$600 million in 2016 by the BRW Rich 200, A$4.09 billion in 2019 by the Financial Review 2023 Rich List, and A$23.66 billion in 2023 by the same list.