Aussie Newspaper Savages Clive Palmer By Turning Him Into Jabba The Hut

The West Australian newspaper has savagely trolled Clive Palmer over his alleged fight with the federal government.

The front page of today's (October 15) paper shows he billionaire as Jabba the Hut from Star Wars.

The paper was criticised for arguably fat shaming Palmer, however many people in the comments said the depiction of him as the movie villain was fitting.

Not only was the comparison to Jabba the Hut brutal but they also likened him to a cane toad, a cockroach, Dr Evil from Austin Powers, and a chicken.

The West Australian reported Palmer is set to take international legal action against the Australian government after he lost his massive High Court challenge.

The Queenslander sued the Western Australian government for millions after the state brought in a law that prevented him and his company Mineralogy's ability to get compensation over an iron ore mine in the Pilbara.

The High Court however sided with the state and argued the law was 'not invalid or inoperative in its entirety'.

Mr Palmer had an agreement with the state government dating back to 2002 that was called the Iron Ore Processing (Mineralogy Pty Ltd) Agreement.

WA has entered into agreements like this since the 1960s, according to the ABC, and they're set up when someone wants to start a major project in the state.

However, things got hairy in 2012 under the Barnett government, and the mining magnate argued he was owed damages because the state 'ignored' his plans to develop the Balmoral South iron ore project.

But now-Premier Mark McGowan introduced new laws last year that amended the state agreement system, which caused Mr Palmer to launch his big lawsuit.

The Premier's move was huge and was even labelled 'unprecedented' by the state's Attorney General.

Despite it being a big decision, the High Court said the government was entitled to make changes to the law in the way they see fit.

Associate Professor Luck Beck, of Monash University, explained to the ABC that this happens all the time.

"They just changed the law which altered people's legal rights - in this case, Palmer and Mineralogy's - but parliament does that all the time," he said.

"They change the law which affects people's rights. They change zoning laws which affects the value of people's property."

It was a massive blow to Mr Palmer, however The West Australian reports he might not be backing down just yet and could escalate it higher.

Featured Image Credit: REUTERS/Jim Reagan

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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