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Kathleen Folbigg's long fight for justice has taken another contentious turn, as the Attorney General decided on a $2 million ex gratia compensation payment – a sum her solicitor, Rhanee Rego, has condemned as a "moral affront."

The payment follows Folbigg’s application for compensation after her convictions for the deaths of her four children were quashed, and she was pardoned in 2023. Folbigg spent two decades wrongfully imprisoned.

The Attorney General’s office stated that the decision “follows thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg’s application and provided by her legal representatives.”

However, the proposed sum has ignited intense criticism from Folbigg’s legal team. “This is profoundly unfair and unjust. The sum offered is a moral affront – woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible,” stated Rego.

“The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again.” Rego highlighted the immense suffering Folbigg has endured, stating, “Kathleen lost her four children; she lost 20 of the best years of her life; and she continues to feel the lasting effects of this ongoing trauma.”

She stressed that the payment falls far short of acknowledging the profound impact of her wrongful incarceration. “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.”

Rego compared the highly publicised case of Lindy Chamberlain, who received $1.7 million in 1994 after spending three years in prison.

“Kathleen Folbigg spent two decades in prison, yet for her wrongful imprisonment she has been offered $2 million,” Rego pointed out.

Rego has called for immediate transparency regarding the decision-making process behind the compensation figure. “An inquiry is urgently needed to understand how the Government decided on this figure,” she asserted.

“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.”

The Attorney General’s office has stated that it will not make any further comment on the matter.

Image credit: Kathleen Folbigg (left) arrives at the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal in Sydney, Thursday, December 14, 2023. Source: DEAN LEWINS/ AP Image