Morrison dodges question over Clive Palmer's unpaid Queensland Nickel workers

PM doesn’t reveal whether he sought assurances of payment from United Australia party leader before striking preference deal with him

Scott Morrison has sidestepped a question about whether he sought assurances from Clive Palmer that Queensland Nickel workers will be paid the $7m they are owed at the time the Liberal party entered a preference deal with the controversial businessman’s United Australia party.

Morrison’s deflection on the hustings in Perth came as Palmer resumed his criticisms of the ALP, suggesting Labor was saying one thing but doing another on preferences. In a prepared statement read out to journalists on Monday, Palmer referenced a series of conversations he claims he had with Labor figures about UAP preferences, and declared Bill Shorten’s “repeated lies about preferences confirm my judgment that he’s not morally fit to be prime minister of Australia”.

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from World news | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GQAR7K