It’s a good thing Australia won its case in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) against Clive Palmer’s “foreign investor” claim for $300 billion over a stalled mining project in Western Australia.
The international tribunal, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, ruled it had no jurisdiction over a dispute between a national government and one of its citizens.
Palmer made the claim after the High Court rejected his appeal against emergency legislation passed by Western Australia in 2020. That legislation removed his right to pursue damages for being unable to develop sites in the Pilbara.
He argued the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand free trade agreement, which involves Singapore — where his mining company is domiciled — allowed him to pursue an investor–state claim in the PCA.
