Slumped in the witness box, head in hands and breathing heavily, an ill Clive Palmer has testified to being oblivious to the whereabouts of his globe-trotting nephew Clive Mensink.
On a dramatic day in the Federal Court, Mr Palmer arrived clutching a vomit bag and later pulled out a breathing apparatus and a pillow.
He appeared dishevelled as he attempted to piece together his most recent conversations with Queensland Nickel director Mr Mensink.
Claiming a political witch-hunt, the businessman and former MP complained he was unfairly dragged into the Brisbane court on Wednesday despite being heavily medicated for pancreatitis.
Mr Palmer was ordered to attend by Federal Court Justice John Dowsett after failing to appear on Tuesday, claiming to be in great pain.
Hobbling into court minutes before the scheduled hearing on Wednesday morning, Mr Palmer told reporters he had taken the opioid Targin, also known as oxycodone, only hours earlier and said it caused memory problems.
"This is not about Queensland Nickel, this is whether a citizen under medication, which are narcotics, which require to be signed off in an act, should be dragged into court to give evidence and whether he can give evidence, because I can't remember my Amex PIN number for example," he said.
"This is just a confirmation that this is a political witch-hunt."
Clutching the vomit bag, a breathing exerciser and propped up with a pillow by his minders, Mr Palmer sat against the back of the courtroom as his barrister, Andrew Boe, warned Justice Dowsett his client had ingested the morphine-based painkillers and was uncertain he could give accurate evidence.
"All he has to do is to do his best," Justice Dowsett responded.
After staggering to the witness box, sick bag and breathing device in hand, Mr Palmer told the court he had last spoken to Mr Mensink in February.
He said his nephew, who has failed to attend court to answer questions about the collapse of QN since first being called in July last year, expressed doubts about returning to Australia and was mentally distressed.
"He said that the way he had been treated was a disaster. He said words to the effect he'd spent seven years keeping people employed and it wasn't fully appreciated," he said.
After 45 minutes, Mr Palmer requested a toilet break and proceeded to walk outside the courtroom to lie down on a couch as the hearing was adjourned for lunch.
When he returned to the witness box in the afternoon, he told the court he could not recall the evidence he had given earlier.
The court heard Mr Palmer had attempted to send $60,000 to Mr Mensink through his European relatives, asking them to urge him to contact his solicitor and return to Australia.
After encouraging him to abstain from taking painkillers before a scheduled hearing next Tuesday, Justice Dowsett adjourned the proceedings.
"You're joking," Mr Palmer responded from the witness box.
"He obviously hadn't taken it (the pills) before the interview on television," Judge Dowsett added, citing Mr Palmer's appearance on the Seven Network last week when he boasted of a new healthy lifestyle and weight loss.
On leaving court, Mr Palmer explained his condition had worsened because of a weekend meal - a rice and bean curd roll.
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