Court Date for the Case of Mothballed Coolum Resort; Clive Palmer “Bullies” Retiree Villa Owners

After 4 years of legal battles between villa owners at the Queensland Coolum Resort and Clive Palmer, the Federal Court in Brisbane will hold its next hearing on December 7, 2019.

The sunshine coast resort was once the Hyatt Regency Coolum and host of the Australia PGA and was considered the jewel in the Sunshine Coast’s tourism crown, until it was purchased by Mr Palmer in 2011. Palmer bought it for $80 million and proceeded to making some odd decisions; he rebranded the luxury resort “Palmer Coolum Resort” and built the ‘Palmersaurus’ – a dinosaur park containing 160 life-size creatures. Occupancy levels dropped as giant, roaring statues scared off the golf players.

The resort’s golf course hosted a round of the Australia PGA in 2012. Photo: AAP

Then, in 2015, Palmer announced the resort would be “temporarily” closed for “renovations”, laying off 600 tourism industry professionals. However, since 2015, no changes have been made to the site, with visitors noting that “its rooms have grown mouldy, gathered cobwebs and fallen into general disrepair” and that “unused accommodation that has not housed guests in years has been boarded over and furniture and mattresses left strewn across floors.”

Even the pool has been allowed to turn green.

Before and after; AAP and The Daily New

This left not just Queensland tourism in a dire state; the resort was also home to 144 timeshare villa owners who each paid between $50,000 and $100,000 for a quarter share of a villa. Palmer cut power and water to the villas, and the owners, mostly retirees, say the lack of basic living conditions and the derelict state of the resort render the villas unsellable.

“Shame on me; I was hoodwinked good and proper but never again,” said Gay Williams, one of the residents when asked about Clive Palmer. “Don’t be stupid … don’t be conned by him again”. Other residents said similar things to The Australian.

The owners even opened a Facebook page, dedicated to their plight. ‘Villa Owners at Palmer Coolum Resort’ “has been created as a forum for the Villa Owners at Palmer Coolum Resort to discuss and share our experiences under Prof Palmer’s ownership”, the About section says. Its admins are desperately trying to interest the general public in the story, sharing news of Palmer’s latest antics; tax evasions, missed court hearings, complex tax structures, falsified records and money siphoning, but with limited success – only 462 followers as of today.

Villa owners aren’t the only ones chasing Palmer for justice; The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (or ASIC) charged Mr Palmer in relation to a failed takeover of the resort’s timeshare scheme. Palmer is being accused of breaching corporate law, which carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment and fines of $11,000.

Maree Frecklington, one of 300 investors in the resort and mother-in-law of Queensland Liberal National Party leader Deb Frecklington, told The Australian Clive Palmer is a “bully” who “can’t be trusted”. “You’re hurting retirees, the self-funded ones who have helped this nation grow,” she added.

The Queensland parliament seems to agree with these claims. Tourism Minister Kate Jones blamed Mr Palmer for the loss of the PGA Championship and downturn in visitation to the once-luxurious Coolum resort. “It is shameful, and it cost 600 workers their jobs,” Ms Jones said yesterday. “The LNP will get into bed with anyone if they think it will get them over the line.”

However, so far ASIC has been docile, to say the least. Despite being urged to press criminal or civil charges by both the general public and Queensland lawmakers, the corporate watchdog is stalling. This September, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced a criminal investigation into Clive Palmer is “well-advanced” and could very soon lead to criminal charges. However, this is not pertaining to the Coolum Resort case, but to the Queensland Nickel refinery which went bankrupt in late 2015. In that case, Palmer is being prosecuted for trading while insolvent and acting as a shadow director.

The Coolum Resort hearing scheduled for December 7^th will discuss an application by one of Clive Palmer’s entities, Coeur De Lion Investments Pty Ltd, to “wind up” The President’s Club Limited, the group that oversees the timeshare holdings of villas at the resort.

A ‘winding up resolution’ leads to the liquidation of company assets by a licensed Insolvency Practitioner, with the intention of either repaying creditors or distributing the money realised to shareholders.

Villa owners and the Gold Coast community await a just decision in the case. Whichever way it goes, Australians expect ASIC to follow through with the allegations against Palmer and complete its duties as a corporate regulator.