He will face court together with former Queensland industrial relations minister Gordon Nuttall over payments of $300,000 made from Talbot to Nuttall.

The payments were made between 2002 and 2005 when Talbot headed up Macarthur, and Nuttall was minister under Peter Beattie’s government.

Both men will plead not guilty. They face possible jail terms of up to seven years if convicted.

According to the Australian, a chain of politicians testified at the committal hearing, including former premier Peter Beattie and deputy Terry Mackenroth as well as Premier Anna Bligh, who all said Nuttall had not tried to influence a cabinet decision when Macarthur was granted a $28 million infrastructure loan.

While Talbot this year stepped down as chief executive of Macarthur and sold his stake, he has not been quiet on the resources scene.

This year he took a stake in African miner Riversdale Mining, a 19.9% stake in Pennsylvania coal miner PBS Coals and also purchased shares in PNG explorer Goldminex Resources.