Labor Attorney General slammed for falsely disputing Kathleen Folbigg innocence, denying government wrongdoing, challenging claims of misogyny
In a Budget Estimates Hearing today, Labor Attorney General Michael Daley told the hearing that "acquittal is not the same as innocence” and refused to answer whether he believed in Ms Folbigg’s innocence.
He has also denied there was malicious prosecution or failure of police “it was not malfeasance of the state”, in spite of clear evidence from the Bathurst Inquiry that Ms Folbigg’s diary entries were misrepresented in the court proceedings.
When asked if a forensic accountant was engaged to examine Ms Folbigg’s financial circumstances before the $2m ex-gratia payment was made, the Attorney General said “I don’t believe so… not on behalf of the government”.
Greens MP, solicitor and spokesperson for Justice, Sue Higginson said:
“NSW Labor’s Attorney General is just another man continuing the cycle of injustice and inhumanity in Kathleen Folbigg’s life,
“Labor Premier Chris Minns and Attorney General Michael Daley are the two men with the power to right the 20 year wrongful imprisonment of Kathleen Folbigg, a mother who lost four children. But these two men are still refusing to meet with Kathleen, they are refusing to apologise to Kathleen, they are victim-blaming her in the media, and they are disputing there was any misogyny involved in Kathleen’s wrongful conviction and the inadequate amount of compensation now offered to her,
“The Minns Labor Government didn’t even bother to ask a forensic accountant to consider the harm that the State of New South Wales had caused Ms Folbigg by locking her up for 20 years or what a woman in her position would need to be able to live her life in the absence of significant economic stress. They seemingly have no regard for Ms Folbigg’s wellbeing, and they have fundamentally undermined the community’s faith in our legal system,
“In his evidence today, the Attorney General went as far as to deny Ms Folbigg the presumption of innocence. If you are acquitted, you are innocent, because the presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle of our legal system,
“The Attorney General knows what happened to Ms Folbigg was wrong. He knew that had to make an ex-gratia payment. But he refused to look Kathleen in the eye, he didn’t bother asking anyone what she needs to avoid financial destitution, and he knows full well she can’t afford years of court battles with the NSW Government,
“Our entire ex-gratia payment process is extremely flawed. Men in suits, in smoky back rooms, get to unilaterally decide what happens to women who are victims of grave injustice inflicted by errors of the state. There’s no oversight, no accountability, and no regard for the harm they might cause,
“It just shouldn’t be this hard to get the Attorney General to care about justice, and to care about women who are victims of injustice,
“Imagine what Kathleen must be feeling, having been wrongfully imprisoned for 20 years, losing four children, and now being ignored by the man who is supposed to embody justice in this State,
“At the very least, the Attorney General should have enough empathy and humanity to sit down with Ms Folbigg and to understand the decades of loss she has endured.”