CLIVE PALMER —
LEGAL ACTION — STATE SOLICITOR'S OFFICE
999. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Attorney General:
I
refer to the costs incurred by the state, including time spent by the State
Solicitor's Office, in proceedings NSD912 of 2020.
(1) Did the State Solicitor's
Office undertake any work in those proceedings?
(2) If yes to (1), how much time was
recorded by the State Solicitor's Office on that matter?
(3) If no to (1),
is it the case that the State Solicitor's Office did not provide any
assistance to either the Premier, the Attorney General or any other person in
relation to any aspect of the proceedings?
Hon
MATTHEW SWINBOURN replied:
I thank the member for some notice
of the question. The following answer is based on information provided to me by
the Attorney General.
(1) The State
Solicitor's Office acted for the state in the proceedings, including in
relation to third party discovery, and also for the Attorney General in
relation to a subpoena to produce documents issued by Mr Palmer. That is the
subpoena, not the documents.
(2) Pursuant to
court orders, Mr Palmer is required to pay the state's reasonable costs
for providing third party discovery and the Attorney's reasonable loss
or expense incurred in respect of complying with the subpoena. The State
Solicitor's Office is taking steps to assess these costs. While this
process is on foot, it is not appropriate to
disclose the time spent by the State Solicitor's Office because doing
so may prejudice the recovery of costs.
(3) Not applicable.