Clive Palmer gets three months’ breathing space from criminal charges

Both cases against Mr Palmer and Palmer Leisure Coolum were dealt with together because Mr Palmer’s barrister, Peter Dunning, QC, argued for them both to be adjourned.

Mr Dunning asked for a three-month delay in the Magistrates Court matters to allow for the outcome of Mr Palmer’s Supreme Court application – for the ASIC charges to be permanently stayed – to be finalised.

Among his arguments were that ASIC had breached Mr Palmer’s human rights, that the criminal complaint was “an abuse of process”, and that there was significant overlap with the Supreme Court application.

In opposing the adjournment, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions argued that it was beyond the Magistrates Court’s jurisdiction, that the…