SYDNEY: A mining mogul engaged in a years-long dispute with the Australian government over a blocked project had his case thrown out by an international tribunal on Saturday (Sept 27), the attorney general said.
Flamboyant billionaire and right-wing politician Clive Palmer had sought to challenge legislation in Western Australia, which prevented him from suing the government over losses related to a blocked mining project in the state.
Having lost that bid in Canberra's high court in 2021, his Singapore-based company took the case to the supranational Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), where it claimed violations of a free trade agreement between Australia, New Zealand and Asean.
The PCA threw out his case on Saturday on the grounds that it has no jurisdiction in the dispute.
It also ordered Palmer's company, Zeph Investments, to pay the Australian government AU$13.6 million ($8.9 million) in legal costs.
"Mr Palmer is not a 'foreign investor' and is not entitled to any benefits under Australia's free trade and investment agreements," Australia's Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said.
"Australia should never have had to spend two years and over AU$13 million defending an investor-State claim brought by an Australian national," Rowland added.
A former member of parliament and Australia's fifth-richest man, Palmer is known for engaging in complex and lengthy litigation that often wracks up massive costs for opponents.
In 2023, the Australian government blocked him from a bid to create an open-cut coal mine 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Great Barrier Reef, threatening a marine wonder and Unesco world heritage site. - AFP
