Palmer fails in Qld justice recusal bid

Clive Palmer has failed in a "last-minute" bid for a Queensland Supreme Court justice to recuse himself from hearing a lawsuit between one of his companies and a Singapore-based exploration firm.

Mineralogy is seeking a declaration it is not obliged to pay money to BGP Geoexplorer over a roughly $22 million debt allegedly owed by Palmer Petroleum, stemming from survey work in the Gulf of Papua.

But Queensland Supreme Court Justice David Jackson said an affidavit sworn by Mr Palmer and filed on Tuesday raised concerns about alleged "apprehended bias" based on communication between other judges, and was seeking he disqualify himself from hearing the case.

There was no explanation in the affidavit as to why Mr Palmer hadn't raised any concerns about the issue earlier, given it originated from comments made in a Western Australian court in August 2016, Justice Jackson said.

"(There is) a concern that this is an application which was brought with a strategic purpose at the end of this trial in order to abort it," he said.

But Mr Palmer's legal representative Sam Iskander said the businessman's grievance had only come to light as he read over a transcript from Monday's hearing of the Queensland proceeding.

Justice Jackson ultimately dismissed the application, noting he felt "some concern" about the manner in which it was brought.

Mr Palmer's affidavit includes a transcript of a hearing in the Western Australian Supreme Court in Perth on August 8, 2016, in which an interstate justice remarked there had been "some communication" about litigation in other courts and whether or not there was any overlap.

"I do not believe that judges in separate jurisdictions should communicate about parties or individuals before the courts that may be subject of matters that can come before them," Mr Palmer's affidavit reads.