NSW attorney-general approves $2 million compensation payment to Kathleen Folbigg after release from prison
Nakita Jager, ABC
Kathleen Folbigg (right) with her lawyer Rhanee Rego in 2023, when her convictions were quashed.
Photo:
ABC News / Keana Naughton
Kathleen Folbigg's solicitor says a $2 million payout from the NSW government is "profoundly unfair and unjust" after spending 20 years in prison.
Attorney-General Michael Daley granted a compensation payment to Folbigg, who was
exonerated of killing her four children
after spending two decades in jail for their deaths.
Folbigg was convicted in 2003 of killing her four children between 1989 and 1999.
Following a seven-week trial, a jury found Folbigg guilty of the murders of Patrick, Sarah and Laura, and the manslaughter of Caleb.
In 2023 Folbigg's convictions were quashed and in 2024 she applied for a compensation payment.
The state government said it had agreed to a request from Folbigg to not publicly discuss the details of the compensation decision.
"The decision follows thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg's application and provided by her legal representatives," Daley said.
Folbigg's solicitor Rhanee Rego said in a statement her client continues to feel the lasting effects of this ongoing trauma.
"Kathleen Folbigg spent two decades in prison, yet for her wrongful imprisonment she has been offered $2 million," the statement read.
"When Lindy Chamberlain was exonerated in 1994, she received $1.7 million for three years in prison."
Rego said the payment "does not reflect the extent of the pain and suffering Kathleen has endured".
"This should be about the system recognising the significance of what it did to her.
"An inquiry is needed to understand how the government decided on this figure."
Greens MLC Sue Higginson says Folbigg's payment is not enough.
Photo:
ABC News / Victoria Pengilley
NSW Greens MLC Sue Higginson dubbed the compensation amount an insult from Premier Chris Minns, describing the offer as "go away" money.
"I'm astounded at the lack of reason, financial accounting, reflection and empathy this offer represents," she said.
"Two million dollars 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."
Rego said the system had failed her client once again.
"Kathleen Folbigg's fight should be over. After being failed at her conviction and abused in prison, she is now being treated with contempt by the very system that should be making amends," she said.
"This is profoundly unfair and unjust."
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