2025-08-06
Labor Premier Chris Minns has been slammed for offering just $2 million in compensation to Kathleen Folbigg, a mother who lost her four children, then spent 20 years in prison for their murder, until it was found that she had been wrongly convicted.
Premier Chris Minns and Attorney-General Michael Daley both refused to meet with Ms Folbigg before making this offer. Minns was recently accused of victim blaming Ms Folbigg after he told a press conference recently rather than seek an ex-gratia payment, Ms Folbigg could sue the NSW Government, saying “... like every citizen in the state, she's entitled to take her matter to the courts and sue the NSW government, but this is a complex issue given she won't do that.”
Greens MP and Justice Spokesperson Sue Higginson said,
“This is a shocking and insulting offer from Labor Premier Chris Minns, to the woman who was failed in the most incomprehensible way by the State he leads. I’m astounded at the lack of reason, financial accounting, reflection and empathy this offer represents”,
“$2m barely covers what Kathleen could have earned on a full-time salary over 20 years. Kathleen has not only lost 20 years of wages, she has lost her four children, her home and her employability. She has racked up legal costs fighting her wrongful conviction, she has lost her superannuation, and she has been the victim of one of the worst injustices in this state’s history - wrongful imprisonment”,
“Ex-gratia payments are payments of grace and good will, but what the Minns Labor Government have done today is offered a disgraceful payment in bad faith, it is “Go Away” money. It’s unfair and speaks of misogyny and failure to take responsibility for the State's infliction of a grave injustice”,
“Lindy Chamberlain was provided $1.7 million for being wrongly imprisoned for 3 years for the murder of baby Azalea. That was 30 years ago, calculated in today’s terms, that could be anywhere around $23 million. This is a serious slap in the face, not just for Kathleen Folbigg, but for all of us who rightly expect the Government to be able to take responsibility and right its wrongs, and there is no more wrong the State can do than to throw an innocent person in prison”,
"Once again, I am pleading with Labor Premier Chris Minns and Attorney General Michael Daley to have some empathy and get with the economic reality of the situation. To do this they should do what grown ups do, sit down and negotiate a fair payment with Ms Folbigg."