Palmer has let down his workers, says PM

Clive Palmer's time as owner of struggling Queensland Nickel is coming to an end, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull predicts.

Mr Palmer had "let down the workers there" and that was very disappointing for someone who held himself up as their champion, he told Radio 3AW on Friday.

The voters of Fairfax would decide at the next election whether Mr Palmer was a fit and proper person to continue to be a federal MP, Mr Turnbull said.

"His management of Queensland Nickel, from what we know to date, is shocking."

The company sacked 237 workers at its Yabulu refinery near Townsville earlier in January and is now in administration.

Queensland Nickel donated more than $20 million to bankroll the Palmer United Party.

Mr Palmer insists he has no personal responsibility to ensure sacked refinery workers get their entitlements.