The New South Wales premier has encouraged Kathleen Folbigg to sue his government if she wants more than $2m for the two decades she spent in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing her four children.
Chris Minns is facing bipartisan condemnation and a possible inquiry into what has been described as an “insulting” compensation payout for Folbigg.
Folbigg, once referred to as among Australia’s worst serial killers, was convicted in 2003 and ordered to serve a minimum 25-year sentence for the suffocation murders of three of her children and manslaughter of a fourth.
Her name was cleared and convictions quashed in 2023 by the appeals court just months after she was granted an unconditional pardon and released from prison.
On Friday morning, the Greens MP Sue Higginson wrote to Minns to formally request the government “review the decision to offer such an unjust and inadequate payment” to Folbigg.
“It’s not too late for Chris Minns to do the right thing, meet with Kathleen, and offer her just and fair compensation for the injury that has been done to her as a result of a failure by the NSW justice system,” Higginson said.
“If he doesn’t do this I will move to establish an inquiry to examine how this decision was reached. Kathleen and all people with an interest in justice deserve to understand how this has gone so wrong.”
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The Nationals MP Wes Fang said a public inquiry into the compensation figure should not be delayed.
“The state took away Kathleen’s life, her liberty, even her home, for 20 years,” Fang said. “[The state attorney general] Michael Daley had the ability to give her a small amount of dignity back, to try and enjoy her next 20 years.”
The opposition leader, Mark Speakman, said the figure was “unfair and too low” but stopped short of calling for a formal inquiry on Friday morning.
But Minns said $2m was the most the government could allocate to Folbigg “without pulling it away from other important programs”.
The premier said other higher compensation payments to wrongly accused people had occurred after they initiated legal action against governments.
“[Folbigg’s] lawyer is free to take the NSW government to court, to sue the NSW government and we would deal with it in those circumstances,” Minns said.
Folbigg’s lawyer, Rhanee Rego, was contacted for comment. It is not known whether further legal action is being considered.
Emma Cunliffe, who was one of the first lawyers to argue Folbigg was innocent, said the $2m figure was “inadequate” when compared to the money provided to other wrongfully convicted Australians.
In 2019, David Eastman was paid $7m by the ACT government after spending 19 years in prison. Lindy Chamberlain was paid $1.5m for 3.5 years in prison three decades ago.
“Fair compensation would offer parity with past awards,” Cuncliffe said. “It would allow Kathleen Folbigg sufficient resources to live out her years in peace and comfort and hopefully to access the supports and services that will allow her to heal.”
Cuncliffe, now a professor at the University of British Columbia, said it was common for government to made “a lowball offer of compensation” only for it to be revised in the face of public pressure.
One of Kathleen’s closest friends, Tracy Chapman, who has supported her for more than two decades, described the compensation figure as “insulting”.
“It’s a failure of empathy,” Chapman said. “It’s a failure of accountability.”
Chapman said there appeared to be no formal process of appeal and that the government’s compensation offer was described as “non-negotiable”.
“This is the shocking thing,” Chapman said. “There is no process. There is no system here. They don’t have to do anything.
“The letter of compensation was insulting. It said we did extensive research and this is the figure we came up with and this is not negotiable, it’s a final offer.”
