Overview

• Australia's attorney-general said the Permanent Court of Arbitration dismissed the case because Palmer was not a foreign investor under trade agreements.
• The tribunal ordered Palmer's company, Zeph Investments, to pay Australia's legal costs of AU$13.6 million.
• Zeph, a Singapore-registered company owned by Palmer, had pursued damages reported as almost US$200 billion after Western Australia blocked the Balmoral South iron ore project.
• The dispute followed Western Australia's 2020 legislation barring related damages claims, a law upheld by Australia's High Court in 2021 after the project's initial 2012 rejection.
• Canberra and Perth welcomed the ruling and said they will keep defending remaining international claims, which the federal government hopes Palmer will now withdraw.