You're welcome, but I'm sorry I can't be of much more help.
I had a look around and found this
http://iuveaene.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/change-default-color-palette-in-openoffice/ and this
https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14529&p=67956&hilit=import%20colors#p67956 but neither is really useful for what you want.
Have you thought about using something like
http://www.colourlovers.com/ ? It lets you create palettes and save them in formats such as AI, SVG, GPL etc. which Scribus can then import. (It also has other functions too, however it's limited to 5 colours per palette, but you can create as many as you want.) You can also import the palettes into anything else that can use the same file types. You could use it as your "root palette location" (if you know what I mean), but obviously there could be legal implications if you're making a palette with colours that are specific to a company. It's just a thought.
Unfortunately L/OO use their own formats at the moment (SOC, which Scribus can import, I think, but have never tried), but if they change you'll be ready for it.
Actually, this has now got me thinking about an open source "palette manager" where you can create palettes which can be exported for use in any other application that wants to use them. I haven't put much thought into it though so I have no idea what problems there'd be but it sounds to me like a good student project. Maybe not so much the programming - colour selectors are built into most APIs nowadays - but more on the research side: CMYK vs. RBG, colour management, commercial colour sets, etc. Maybe there's one out there already?
Anyway, that's another topic altogether. I hope someone else can give you a better answer than I've given.
P.S. Sorry to hear about your broken system; I've had my share of them over the years.