Clive Palmer says he will launch a $10 million defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for allegedly besmirching the businessman's name over the Queensland Nickel collapse.
The former federal MP also says he will sue Employment Minister Michaelia Cash for $250,000 for saying responsibility for the nickel refinerry business lay with him.
Mr Palmer's lawyer Sam Iskander wrote to Senator Cash's office in October last year, claiming the businessman was being shunned and excluded by friends, employees and professional colleagues as a result of her comments and feared reprisals against himself and his family.
Mr Iskander said her would launch proceedings in the Brisbane District Court withing 28 days unless Senator Cash issued a public apology and agreed to pay $150,000 in damages.
Senator Cash's lawyers rejected the demand in November on the grounds her comments were "clearly defensible" and her office says it has not heard back from Mr Palmer's representatives.
But Mr Palmer - who will face a court grilling on Wednesday about the collapse - insists he won't let his former political foes get away with dragging down his reputation.
"They've lied to people about Queensland Nickel and my role in it. They've said things designed to damage me, personally, in the public's eyes, which were not true and they did that for political reasons," Mr Palmer told AAP on Tuesday.
The prime minister's office has also been contacted for a response.
Queensland Nickel collapsed in early 2016 with debts of about $300 million, leaving close to 800 people out of work.
A search of civil proceedings lodged with Queensland's courts shows Mr Palmer's lawyers have not yet submitted any paperwork for the promised law suits.
Mr Palmer opted not to recontest his Sunshine Coast seat of Fairfax at the last election, after opinion polls suggested support for him was almost non-existent in the aftermath of Queensland Nickel's demise in January 2016.
The former MP is due in the Federal Court in Brisbane on Wednesday, where the nickel company's liquidators will quiz him about how the company was run.
Mr Palmer has denied acting as a shadow director, and he's defended himself against claims he raided Queensland Nickel's bank accounts to fund his other businesses and even his political party.
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