FTI yet to consent to Parbery as SPL

FTI Consulting's Quentin Olde 

AN application to appoint PPB Advisory's Steve Parbery special purpose liquidator (SPL) of Queensland Nickel (QN) has been lodged in the Federal Court but the stricken nickel firm's general purpose liquidators (GPLs) are yet to declare whether they will consent to or contest the move.

Quentin Olde, one of four FTI Consulting partners formerly appointed GPLs to QN on April 27 told SiN yesterday that the company's creditors are also undecided.

"We had a meeting with the committee yesterday (Tuesday) and we're trying to understand their views and concerns and are continuing to work with the applicants to better understand the basis for the application and the extent of the role of the SPL," Olde said.

Creditors are understood to have expressed doubts about the need for an SPL. Nor is it rocket science to conclude that FTI might be underwhelmed with the prospect of PPB nicking its gig. The application's originating process seeks orders which include preventing the GPLs from doing anything specified as a designated, SPL task without first obtaining written consent.

That includes pursuing claims, conducting public examinations, commencing legal proceedings and conducting investigations into any of the matters outlined in the application's supporting affidavit, authored by King & Wood Mallesons' insolvency gun, David Cowling.

Further, FTI's gang of four - Olde, John Park, Stefan Dopking and Kelly-Anne Trenfield - reject any suggestion that they have a conflict of interest with their appointor, which is the usual justification for installing an SPL.

Yet unanswered is the question of why the SPL applicants - The Department of Employment (DoE) and the Commissioner of Taxation (CoT) - won't fund the GPLs.

DoCA imminent as Palmer ousts FTI

Palmer United Party chief of staff
James McDonald has abruptly stood down as a
director of Queensland Nickel Sales.

IN the wake of FTI Consulting's removal as managers of the Yabulu nickel refinery in Queensland yesterday, creditors now face the prospect of the operations once again being controlled solely by Clive Palmer's nephew.

Until last Sunday, James McDonald and Clive Mensink were the directors of Queensland Nickel Sales Pty Ltd (QNS), a company first registered in 1972. However McDonald's removal was only made official on Tuesday, one day after it was revealed that QNS had replaced Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (QN) as the manager of the stricken nickel plant. QN has been controlled by FTI's John Park since January 18 when he was appointed voluntary administrator (VA).

McDonald, who is Palmer's current chief of staff, became a director of QNS in May 2015, joining Palmer's nephew Mensink, Palmer and another PUP loyalist, Phillip Collins on the QNS board.

McDonald's Linked In profile indicates he has extensive experience in organising road shows for IPOs and events management. It also states that he was global marketing director for Blue Star Line until October 2014. Before taking over from Collins as Palmer's chief of staff he was the PUP's lead South Australian candidate for the Senate.

Mensink is also a director of QN, QNI Metals and QNI Resources, the latter pair of companies being the joint venture partners which own the Yabulu refinery and its related infrastructure and assets. Putting QNS in charge of Yabulu's operations and removing McDonald means Mensink is again in sole control of the operations and no longer subservient to the authority of external VAs.

He and the other three directors of QNS became two only recently. Collins resigned on December 31, 2015 and Palmer resigned on January 10. Eight days later Park was appointed VA of QN, which employs the Yabulu workforce and until yesterday managed the refinery operations. Crucially, QN does not own any significant assets. The stage was set for the VA to be sidelined.