COURT REBUKE PUBLISHED TODAY LEAVES COOK GOVERNMENT WITH SERIOUS QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

The Cook Labor Government has serious questions to answer after reasons published today revealed why the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the State’s appeal concerning child sexual abuse survivor Dion Barber.

Last September, the District Court awarded Mr Barber almost $2.85 million in damages for horrific abuse he suffered while under the care of the State.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the State’s appeal on 10 September. In reasons published today, it said the State had “incongruously” appealed after paying the judgment in full and described its attempt to seek orders setting aside or reducing the award as “profoundly illogical”.

The Court also said reputational damage provided “no justification at all” for hearing a moot appeal and described the circumstances of Mr Barber’s case as “on any view, appalling”.

Shadow Attorney General Nick Goiran said the Government owed Mr Barber and the public an explanation.

“The Court’s own words speak volumes about the way the State has mishandled this case,” Mr Goiran said.

“The State had already paid Mr Barber in full yet persisted with an appeal the Court has now described as profoundly illogical.

“These are extraordinary observations that Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioticannot simply brush aside.

“Mr Barber had already endured horrific abuse while in the State’s care. The Premier should now unequivocally apologise to him for putting him through this frivolous appeal.

The Court recorded that almost 200 other child sexual abuse claims presently involve the same statutory issue raised by the State in Mr Barber’s appeal.

It found that the State was seeking an advisory opinion to facilitate negotiations of those other claims, “presumably on a basis more favourable than the outcome in Mr Barber’s case”.

The Court said that if the State wished to deny another claim, it should do so “openly and transparently, in the ordinary course of litigation, in a properly constituted case”.

“That finding demands an explanation,” Mr Goiran said.

“Rita Saffioti cannot hide behind other Ministers on this matter because the inconvenient truth is that she is the Minister who oversees the Insurance Commission and its handling of this case raises serious questions about compliance with the State’s model litigant
obligations.

“If she is not up to that task then the Premier should remove that responsibility from her and give it to the Attorney General”.

Mr Goiran said the case also raised continuing questions about Minister Don Punch.

The District Court recorded Mr Punch’s involvement as an acting supervisor at a December 1988 case conference and the uncontested evidence that he and a colleague recommended a goal and plan of family reunification, an approach later described by Judge Linda Black as “startling and incomprehensible”.

“The Premier should rule out Don Punch ever serving as Minister or Acting Minister for Child Protection and ensure he is not involved in any decision-making intersecting with child protection,” Mr Goiran said.

“The Cook Labor Government cannot boast about lifting the limitation period to allow these claims to be brought forward only to then make the process a nightmare for claimants.

“For more than a year Premier Cook and Treasurer Saffioti have shielded themselves from scrutiny under the guise of the matter being before the courts.

“That shield has just been destroyed by our State’s highest court and Mr Cook and Ms Saffioti need to do what they have so far failed to demonstrate: be accountable, be humble, be transparent, and start by saying sorry.”

The Opposition is renewing its call for an independent review of the State’s handling of historical child sexual abuse claims, including compliance with model litigant responsibilities and trauma-informed principles.

Contact: Graham Mason 0419 194 792