SYDNEY/MELBOURNE - Officials in Australia’s Queensland state are prepared to step in to help protect jobs at a nickel refinery if needed, but called on its owner, mining magnate and politician Clive Palmer, to be open about the refinery’s financial position. Concerns resurfaced this week about the future of the Queensland Nickel refinery when a lawyer acting for Palmer sought an advance A$48 million ($35 million) payment in an unrelated dispute, saying the matter needed to he heard that week. The case against estranged iron ore partner, China’s CITIC Ltd, over any advanced payment of royalties due on the Sino Iron project will now be heard on Monday. Queensland Nickel, bought by Palmer from BHP Billiton in 2009, is one of the country’s biggest refineries with a capacity of 35,000 tonnes a year. A slump in the nickel price from just over $13 a pound in early 2011 to $4.73 a pound amid a mounting supply glut has put pressure on many producers of the metal, used to make stainless steel. Queensland state’s treasurer said he had met with Queensland Nickel but declined to say what exactly was discussed, except to say the commodities slump was hurting the whole resources sector, including Queensland Nickel. “We’ll work with affected stakeholders where required to support jobs and employment in the region,” Treasurer Curtis Pitt said in a statement after meeting with the mayor of Townsville and politicians from the region. Queensland Nickel operates in Yabulu, near Townsville, whose mayor has raised concern about the fate of the plant which she says accounts for more than 3,600 direct and indirect jobs and A$1.3 billion in activity for the city. “I left the meeting reassured that the government has been looking at what it can and can’t do in the way of assistance should the refinery face closure,” Mayor Jenny Hill said in a statement after talks with the treasurer on Thursday. “But it was made very clear that the company must be open and up front about its financial position before government assistance can occur,” she said. Queensland Nickel and Palmer did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment. Concerns first surfaced in October about Queensland Nickel when Palmer met with the state government, but he denied seeking a loan. “I understand Queensland Nickel is debt free and has net assets of over A$1.9 billion,” he said in a written statement at the time. A union official said there was no sign of imminent closure of the Yabulu plant. “As far as we know, it’s business as usual,” Steve Pierce, a district vice president of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union told Reuters. ($1 = 1.3672 Australian dollars)