Clive Palmer accuses major parties of exploiting WA's economy

Clive Palmer has accused the major political parties of exploiting the economy of Western Australia, referring to the loss of the state's AAA credit rating last year.

Leader of the Palmer United Party Clive Palmer. (Getty)

His comments come ahead of WA's Senate election re-run this Saturday.

WA was down graded to AA+ by Standard & Poor last September, amid government spending pressures.

Mr Palmer says both the Liberal and Labor contributed to the downgrade.

He accused the major parties of being more interested in acquiring the state's GST revenue, than helping WA prosper.

"It's very clear that the Liberal party and the Labor party want to continue raping Western Australia for all its GST. We've raised this issue in this election because we think it's an important one."

Mr Palmer also rejected claims one of his companies, Queensland Nickel, is at risk of being shut down for failing to pay a 36-million-dollar carbon tax bill.

Reports today claim that government agencies are moving to force the company into insolvency if it can't pay the bill.

But Mr Palmer says Queensland Nickel paid the bill to the Clean Energy Regulator yesterday.

He says Queensland Nickel will continue a High Court challenge to the legal validity of the carbon pricing scheme.