Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says it would've set an "alarming precedent" for her government to agree to act as a guarantor for Clive Palmer's troubled nickel refinery.
Curtis Pitt sent a letter to Queensland Nickel managing director and Mr Palmer's nephew, Clive Mensink, on Friday night rejecting a request for the state government to act as a guarantor for a $35 million bank overdraft.
"The government is not in the business of giving guarantees to private companies," the premier affirmed on Sunday.
"That would set an alarming precedent with every other private investment company in Queensland."
She said the company had failed to provide "full and frank" information during negotiations with the treasurer.
But pressed to say if the government's decision would be altered should Queensland Nickel be forthcoming in the future, Ms Palaszczuk repeated her appeals for Mr Palmer to state his honest intentions for the Yabulu refinery.
"Now we see in December, a couple of weeks out from Christmas, a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the workers in Townsville," she said, recalling Mr Palmer's earlier assurances the refinery was secure.
In a statement released on Saturday night, the self-described billionaire hit back at the treasurer and accused the government of showing little commitment to the people of Queensland.
He also slammed the Labor government for breaching "long-held conventions to keep business discussions confidential" by releasing the rejection letter.
Mr Pitt's spokesman told AAP - which has not seen the letter - on Sunday the government did not and would not leak the letter, and Mr Palmer's claim was "false and misleading".
Fears the refinery could go into imminent administration came after Mr Palmer's private company Mineralogy lost a legal bid last week to have an estranged Chinese business partner pay millions in "outstanding royalty payments".
Share
