The Queensland government insists it was right not to help Clive Palmer's refinery trade out of trouble, despite an expected turnaround in the nickel price.
The federal MP has attacked the government for refusing to guarantee a $35 million loan to help his company, Queensland Nickel, stay afloat until commodity prices rebound.
The company has since sacked 237 workers at its refinery near Townsville, and on Monday entered voluntary administration.
State Development and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham on Friday revealed his own department was expecting an upturn in nickel prices by the middle of the year.
AAP has sought to clarify when the minister received that advice, and whether it was taken into account when the government assessed Mr Palmer's loan guarantee request.
But Dr Lynham remains unapologetic about the decision not to go loan guarantor.
He said the government simply couldn't, when Mr Palmer's company had refused to open up its books for property scrutiny.
"We weren't prepared to take that risk," he told ABC radio on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Australian Workers Union secretary Ben Swan has revealed he personally urged Treasurer Curtis Pitt to guarantee the loan in the interests of refinery workers.
He said the government was within its rights to reject Mr Palmer's bid for help and he wasn't being critical, but added: "Would a step of going guarantor to that loan have been so significant a risk to keep 237 people in a job? It's a third of the workforce that's gone - that's a big call to see that happen.
"And now there's this mad scramble to try and paper over the gaps, and fix things up now all of this has happened by accelerating capital works programs (to try to create new jobs in the Townsville region)."
Mr Palmer has promised to write to every household in the Townsville region to "tell the truth" about what happened with his nickel business, which has donated more than $20 million to the Palmer United Party over the past two years.
But he's said they'll have to wait until after a creditors' meeting in Townsville next week.
Dr Lynham says Australian and overseas companies have expressed very early interest in taking over the refinery, and Mr Palmer's days as owner are probably numbered.
"I don't think we have to even wish for that. I think that's probably gone - his chance of continued ownership of Yabulu," the minister said on Friday.
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