Wrongly convicted Folbigg 'failed again' by $2m offer
Kathleen Folbigg was jailed over the deaths of her four children before being freed in June 2023 after new scientific evidence cast reasonable doubt over her convictions.
NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley said he decided to make an ex gratia payment to the 58-year-old, more than a year after a compensation claim was submitted to the government.
"The decision follows thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg's application and provided by her legal representatives," Mr Daley said on Thursday.
"The decision has been communicated to Ms Folbigg via her legal representatives."
Ms Folbigg requested details of the payment, including the amount, were not publicly shared, government officials said.
Ms Folbigg's solicitor Rhanee Rego said she had been offered $2 million.
"The sum offered is a moral affront - woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible," Ms Rego said in a statement.
"The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again."
Greens MP Sue Higginson described the offer as "an absolute slap in the face".
"And a failure of the NSW premier to uphold the principles of fairness and justice," Ms Higginson told reporters.
"Kathleen Folbigg was imprisoned for 20 years, accused wrongly of the murder of her own children.
"She has suffered. She has now been released. She is owed compensation that rights the wrong of this state."
Nationals MP Wes Fang said the offer was made the same day upper house members pushed for an inquiry into the payment.
"I believe this payment was only offered to her as a way of closing down this inquiry," he told reporters.
Unlike court-run compensation claims with a series of precedents, ex gratia payments are one-off matters and are expected to be a decision of state cabinet.
Ms Folbigg joins Lindy Chamberlain as rare Australians long jailed but later acquitted and offered compensation.
Ms Chamberlain and her former husband Michael were awarded an ex gratia payment of $1.3 million in 1992 for their prosecution in the Northern Territory over the death of baby daughter Azaria.
West Australian man Scott Austic in May received $1.3 million on top of an earlier payment of $250,000 after serving nearly 13 years for murdering his pregnant secret lover.
He had sought $8.5 million after being acquitted in 2020 on appeal.
Both payments were ex gratia, unlike David Eastman who was awarded $7 million in damages by the ACT Supreme Court in 2019.
Ms Folbigg was convicted of three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter following the deaths of her children between 1989 and 1999.
She appealed successfully against her convictions after scientific discoveries in genetics and cardiology cast doubt on her guilt following two inquiries into her verdicts.
In 2024, Ms Rego told AAP the compensation claim included a lengthy statement explaining her 24-year experience with the matter, submissions detailing errors by agents of government and an expert report assessing loss suffered by the former prisoner.
Ms Folbigg had previously sought a meeting with Premier Chris Minns, but he refused on the grounds she was in the middle of negotiations with the attorney-general.
A $2 million compensation offer to a woman who spent two decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing her children has been described as woefully inadequate and a slap in the face.
Kathleen Folbigg was jailed over the deaths of her four children before being freed in June 2023 after new scientific evidence cast reasonable doubt over her convictions.
NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley said he decided to make an ex gratia payment to the 58-year-old, more than a year after a compensation claim was submitted to the government.
"The decision follows thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg's application and provided by her legal representatives," Mr Daley said on Thursday.
"The decision has been communicated to Ms Folbigg via her legal representatives."
Ms Folbigg requested details of the payment, including the amount, were not publicly shared, government officials said.
Ms Folbigg's solicitor Rhanee Rego said she had been offered $2 million.
"The sum offered is a moral affront - woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible," Ms Rego said in a statement.
"The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again."
Greens MP Sue Higginson described the offer as "an absolute slap in the face".
"And a failure of the NSW premier to uphold the principles of fairness and justice," Ms Higginson told reporters.
"Kathleen Folbigg was imprisoned for 20 years, accused wrongly of the murder of her own children.
"She has suffered. She has now been released. She is owed compensation that rights the wrong of this state."
Nationals MP Wes Fang said the offer was made the same day upper house members pushed for an inquiry into the payment.
"I believe this payment was only offered to her as a way of closing down this inquiry," he told reporters.
Unlike court-run compensation claims with a series of precedents, ex gratia payments are one-off matters and are expected to be a decision of state cabinet.
Ms Folbigg joins Lindy Chamberlain as rare Australians long jailed but later acquitted and offered compensation.
Ms Chamberlain and her former husband Michael were awarded an ex gratia payment of $1.3 million in 1992 for their prosecution in the Northern Territory over the death of baby daughter Azaria.
West Australian man Scott Austic in May received $1.3 million on top of an earlier payment of $250,000 after serving nearly 13 years for murdering his pregnant secret lover.
He had sought $8.5 million after being acquitted in 2020 on appeal.
Both payments were ex gratia, unlike David Eastman who was awarded $7 million in damages by the ACT Supreme Court in 2019.
Ms Folbigg was convicted of three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter following the deaths of her children between 1989 and 1999.
She appealed successfully against her convictions after scientific discoveries in genetics and cardiology cast doubt on her guilt following two inquiries into her verdicts.
In 2024, Ms Rego told AAP the compensation claim included a lengthy statement explaining her 24-year experience with the matter, submissions detailing errors by agents of government and an expert report assessing loss suffered by the former prisoner.
Ms Folbigg had previously sought a meeting with Premier Chris Minns, but he refused on the grounds she was in the middle of negotiations with the attorney-general.
A $2 million compensation offer to a woman who spent two decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing her children has been described as woefully inadequate and a slap in the face.
Kathleen Folbigg was jailed over the deaths of her four children before being freed in June 2023 after new scientific evidence cast reasonable doubt over her convictions.
NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley said he decided to make an ex gratia payment to the 58-year-old, more than a year after a compensation claim was submitted to the government.
"The decision follows thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg's application and provided by her legal representatives," Mr Daley said on Thursday.
"The decision has been communicated to Ms Folbigg via her legal representatives."
Ms Folbigg requested details of the payment, including the amount, were not publicly shared, government officials said.
Ms Folbigg's solicitor Rhanee Rego said she had been offered $2 million.
"The sum offered is a moral affront - woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible," Ms Rego said in a statement.
"The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again."
Greens MP Sue Higginson described the offer as "an absolute slap in the face".
"And a failure of the NSW premier to uphold the principles of fairness and justice," Ms Higginson told reporters.
"Kathleen Folbigg was imprisoned for 20 years, accused wrongly of the murder of her own children.
"She has suffered. She has now been released. She is owed compensation that rights the wrong of this state."
Nationals MP Wes Fang said the offer was made the same day upper house members pushed for an inquiry into the payment.
"I believe this payment was only offered to her as a way of closing down this inquiry," he told reporters.
Unlike court-run compensation claims with a series of precedents, ex gratia payments are one-off matters and are expected to be a decision of state cabinet.
Ms Folbigg joins Lindy Chamberlain as rare Australians long jailed but later acquitted and offered compensation.
Ms Chamberlain and her former husband Michael were awarded an ex gratia payment of $1.3 million in 1992 for their prosecution in the Northern Territory over the death of baby daughter Azaria.
West Australian man Scott Austic in May received $1.3 million on top of an earlier payment of $250,000 after serving nearly 13 years for murdering his pregnant secret lover.
He had sought $8.5 million after being acquitted in 2020 on appeal.
Both payments were ex gratia, unlike David Eastman who was awarded $7 million in damages by the ACT Supreme Court in 2019.
Ms Folbigg was convicted of three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter following the deaths of her children between 1989 and 1999.
She appealed successfully against her convictions after scientific discoveries in genetics and cardiology cast doubt on her guilt following two inquiries into her verdicts.
In 2024, Ms Rego told AAP the compensation claim included a lengthy statement explaining her 24-year experience with the matter, submissions detailing errors by agents of government and an expert report assessing loss suffered by the former prisoner.
Ms Folbigg had previously sought a meeting with Premier Chris Minns, but he refused on the grounds she was in the middle of negotiations with the attorney-general.
A $2 million compensation offer to a woman who spent two decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing her children has been described as woefully inadequate and a slap in the face.
Kathleen Folbigg was jailed over the deaths of her four children before being freed in June 2023 after new scientific evidence cast reasonable doubt over her convictions.
NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley said he decided to make an ex gratia payment to the 58-year-old, more than a year after a compensation claim was submitted to the government.
"The decision follows thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg's application and provided by her legal representatives," Mr Daley said on Thursday.
"The decision has been communicated to Ms Folbigg via her legal representatives."
Ms Folbigg requested details of the payment, including the amount, were not publicly shared, government officials said.
Ms Folbigg's solicitor Rhanee Rego said she had been offered $2 million.
"The sum offered is a moral affront - woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible," Ms Rego said in a statement.
"The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again."
Greens MP Sue Higginson described the offer as "an absolute slap in the face".
"And a failure of the NSW premier to uphold the principles of fairness and justice," Ms Higginson told reporters.
"Kathleen Folbigg was imprisoned for 20 years, accused wrongly of the murder of her own children.
"She has suffered. She has now been released. She is owed compensation that rights the wrong of this state."
Nationals MP Wes Fang said the offer was made the same day upper house members pushed for an inquiry into the payment.
"I believe this payment was only offered to her as a way of closing down this inquiry," he told reporters.
Unlike court-run compensation claims with a series of precedents, ex gratia payments are one-off matters and are expected to be a decision of state cabinet.
Ms Folbigg joins Lindy Chamberlain as rare Australians long jailed but later acquitted and offered compensation.
Ms Chamberlain and her former husband Michael were awarded an ex gratia payment of $1.3 million in 1992 for their prosecution in the Northern Territory over the death of baby daughter Azaria.
West Australian man Scott Austic in May received $1.3 million on top of an earlier payment of $250,000 after serving nearly 13 years for murdering his pregnant secret lover.
He had sought $8.5 million after being acquitted in 2020 on appeal.
Both payments were ex gratia, unlike David Eastman who was awarded $7 million in damages by the ACT Supreme Court in 2019.
Ms Folbigg was convicted of three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter following the deaths of her children between 1989 and 1999.
She appealed successfully against her convictions after scientific discoveries in genetics and cardiology cast doubt on her guilt following two inquiries into her verdicts.
In 2024, Ms Rego told AAP the compensation claim included a lengthy statement explaining her 24-year experience with the matter, submissions detailing errors by agents of government and an expert report assessing loss suffered by the former prisoner.
Ms Folbigg had previously sought a meeting with Premier Chris Minns, but he refused on the grounds she was in the middle of negotiations with the attorney-general.
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