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Clive Palmer cites a cold as he pulls out of testifying to MPs – then fronts media to attack WA premier

<span>Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP</span>
Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP

Clive Palmer pulled out of testifying to a parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s trade with China on the basis he had a cold – but then hosted a press conference with journalists in attendance on the Gold Coast as he threatened fresh legal action against the Western Australian government.

When asked about the apparent breach of Queensland Health’s protocols to prevent the potential spread of coronavirus, the billionaire mining magnate’s spokesman told Guardian Australia that Palmer had “social distanced” during the media event, held on Wednesday at Paradise Point.

Queensland Health provides advice on its website about people who are unwell: “Feeling sick? Stay home. Get tested.”

Related: Clive Palmer suing WA government for $30bn in move labelled 'rapacious' by attorney general

The health authority says people in Queensland who have Covid-19 symptoms – no matter how mild – should get tested and then self-isolate at home while waiting for the results.

Palmer used the media event to call on the Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, “to take a Bex and to calm down” amid a dispute about the WA government’s legislation to protect the state from a potential legal liability of up to $30bn over the past handling of an iron ore project in the Pilbara region.

Palmer signalled that he would go to the high court to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation if it passed the WA parliament.

His company Mineralogy was originally listed on the witness list for Wednesday’s hearing of the federal parliamentary inquiry into diversifying Australia’s trade and investment profile.

The committee conducting those hearings is chaired by the outspoken north Queensland MP George Christensen, who is using what he calls the “China inquiry” to push the case for Australia to reduce its economic dependence on Beijing.

Palmer’s spokesman explained why Palmer had withdrawn at the last minute: “He had a cold so pulled out late. Plus this WA issue is very important.”

The socially distanced media conference.
The socially distanced media conference at Paradise Point. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAP

The spokesman did not respond directly to questions about whether Palmer had taken a Covid test and whether he had breached health protocols by hosting a media conference while sick, but said social distancing measures had been observed.

Palmer and McGowan were already engaged in a war of words over the WA border closure, which the mining magnate is seeking to overturn in ongoing legal proceedings.

But the latest flashpoint is emergency legislation introduced by the WA government on Tuesday evening to extinguish any legal liability for not approving Palmer’s Balmoral South iron ore project in the Pilbara. The dispute dates back to a decision of the former Liberal government in 2012.

McGowan argued on Wednesday that the financial consequences of the dispute “could be absolutely dire” for WA, with the prospect of a “crippling” payout “to the tune of $30bn”.

“That’s why as a government we have no choice but to take this course of action to protect every West Australian,” McGowan told reporters in Perth. “We believe Premier Colin Barnett took the right course of action to protect Western Australia at the time as the proposal by Mr Palmer was flawed and without appropriate detail.”

McGowan pushed the case for the emergency legislation a day after the WA attorney general, John Quigley, said Palmer’s “rapacious” legal claim amounted to the state’s entire annual budget.

Palmer told reporters on the Gold Coast it was “disappointing” that McGowan and his government had taken a “confrontational approach” rather than allow mediation to proceed.

He said he had not launched a $30bn legal claim against the WA government, arguing that the large figure was the state’s own “assessment of what the damages are for what they’ve done”.

“There’s no cases in court for $30bn and the arbitration hasn’t claimed $30bn against the state of WA, so that’s a furphy,” he said.

Palmer said the bill was “totally unconstitutional” and “will be wiped out” in court. “It takes us down to a banana republic,” he said.