Statement from Environment Minister

I am advised that the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection contacted Queensland Nickel Sales earlier this week to make the company aware of its legal responsibility to operate under a current environmental authority (EA) for the refinery at Yabulu.

The Department also advised Queensland Nickel Sales that if it wished to hold its own EA, it needed to be a registered suitable operator to undertake the activity.

I am advised that it was only yesterday that Queensland Nickel Sales made the necessary applications for registration as a suitable operator, and to transfer the existing EA held by Queensland Nickel, a company which is currently in administration.

The application to transfer the existing EA has been endorsed by the administrators for Queensland Nickel and I’ve asked EHP to ensure the application assessment for Queensland Nickel Sales is done as swiftly as possible with the appropriate checks and balances in place.

Mr Palmer has chosen to kick the company that operates the refinery out, and put in a new company to run it for him.

He did this without even bothering to apply for environmental authorities for his new company.

He’s only made those applications on Wednesday. That’s after he’d dismissed the refinery operator.

It is astonishing that Clive Palmer, an experienced businessman, only chose to act on this yesterday.

Media contact: 04112 393 909