Clive Frederick Palmer (born 26 March 1954) is an Australian billionaire businessman and politician. He has iron ore, nickel, and coal holdings, and owns various mining and resort businesses. Palmer founded the Palmer United Party in 2013, and was the member of parliament (MP) for the Queensland division of Fairfax from 2013 to 2016. Palmer has been involved in frequent legal cases relating to his businesses, and has mentioned litigation as a hobby of his in Who's Who, with journalist Hedley Thomas reporting that "His lawyers take legal steps [...] that prolong litigation and rack up costs for the other side" which can result in his opponents being unable to continue their case due to a lack of finances. Palmer has also attempted to use legal action as a gag order against his workers. As of May 2025, Palmer was the fifth richest Australian, when the Australian Financial Review assessed his net worth at A$20.12 billion on the 2025 Rich List. Businesses that Palmer owns include Mineralogy, Waratah Coal, Queensland Nickel, Palmer Coolum Resort on the Sunshine Coast, Palmer Sea Reef Golf Course in Port Douglas, Palmer Colonial Golf Course in Robina, and the Palmer Gold Coast Golf Course, also at Robina. He owned Gold Coast United FC from 2008 to 2012.
Early life Palmer was born on 26 March 1954 at Footscray Hospital in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. He spent his early years in the nearby suburb of Williamstown. His family moved to Queensland in 1963, and Palmer was largely raised on the Gold Coast, where he attended Aquinas College and Southport State High School, although he also attended Toowoomba Grammar School for a short time. Palmer's father, George, was a travel agent, and the family travelled the world extensively. Palmer has claimed that, amidst a months long trip to China, he sat on the lap of Mao Zedong at the age of nine. George Palmer was also the proprietor of the Akron Tyre Co and the Akron Broadcasting Co and was the founder of Melbourne broadcasting station 3AK (now operating as SEN 1116). Palmer studied law, journalism and politics at the University of Queensland from 1973 to 1975, but did not finish the course. He later completed a Diploma of Law through the Queensland Bar Board, and worked as a clerk and interviewing officer for the Public Defender's Office.
Business career
Real estate During the early to mid-1980s, Palmer worked as a real estate agent. He did well from the property boom on the Gold Coast, and retired from real estate at the age of 29.
Mineralogy
In 1985 and 1986 Palmer founded three companies which undertook mining exploration in Western Australia (WA). These included Mineralogy, a company which in 2006 had 160 billion tonnes (160×10^9 long tons; 180×10^9 short tons) of iron ore reserves in the Pilbara Ranges, in remote northern Western Australia. In 2008, Palmer bought Waratah Coal. Palmer transferred Mineralogy to New Zealand in December 2018, and moved it again to Singapore in January 2019. Mineralogy has been involved in a long-running dispute with CITIC over a royalty payment. Mineralogy and CITIC entered into an agreement in 2006 to develop some of the iron ore reserves Palmer owns. In November 2017, Justice Kenneth Martin of the Supreme Court of Western Australia awarded Mineralogy nearly $200 million. Palmer said the decision was "a win for Australian law over Chinese Communist government powerhouses". As of May 2019, CITIC was suing Palmer and he had counter-sued them for $5 billion. In August 2020, the WA Parliament passed an emergency bill to block a legal claim against the government by Palmer, relating to Mineralogy. WA Attorney-General John Quigley estimated the claim as totalling $30 billion, which he described as "rapacious" and equivalent to the annual budget of WA. Palmer denied that estimate and mounted a challenge in the Federal Court to the legislation as unconstitutional. On 28 March 2023, Palmer's Singapore-based company, Zeph Investments, filed a notice of arbitration, suing the Commonwealth of Australia for A$296 billion over the alleged loss of contractual entitlement, “moral damages” and “sovereign risk”, in relation to the iron ore project for which Palmer's company, Mineralogy, had already lost a lawsuit. McGowan responded to the claim saying, "Today we have seen the most deplorable act of greed in Australian history", and "Clive Palmer is the greediest man in Australian history". The Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, said that the Commonwealth will "vigorously defend" the suit. The Permanent Court of Arbitration dismissed the suit in September 2025, ruling that it had no jurisdiction over a claim against a state by one of its own citizens; Palmer was not a 'foreign investor' through his Singapore-based company. He was ordered to pay costs of A$13.6m. It is now uncertain whether Palmer's three PCA cases against the government of Queensland, claiming a further total of A$120b, will proceed.
Queensland Nickel
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