''Wotton v Queensland'' (the Palm Island Class Action case) is a

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

lawsuit brought against the

State of Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...

and the Commissioner of the

Queensland Police Service The Queensland Police Service (QPS) is the principal law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto ...

on behalf of 447

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

and

Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

who live on Palm Island in Queensland, Australia. The class action arose out of the events surrounding the death in police custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee on 19 November 2004, the subsequent protests by the community, which led to the police station being burned down on 26 November 2004, and the police response to those protests. The first applicant in the class action, Lex Wotton, was alleged to have been the "ring leader" in what police called the " Palm Island riot", and was subsequently convicted of "riot causing damage". The case was heard between September 2015 and May 2016, with an appeal brought and then withdrawn in early 2017. In May 2018, the plaintiffs were granted a -dollar settlement and an apology by the Queensland Government.

The class action

In 2013, Lex Wotton, as well as his wife Cecilia and Mother Agnes, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

people who lived on Palm Island against the State of Queensland and the Commissioner of the Police Service, alleging that the police had committed acts of unlawful racial discrimination, in breach of section 9(1) of the ''Racial Discrimination Act'' 1975 (Cth) in the investigation into Mulrunji's death in custody and in the subsequent police response to the unrest in the community. The Wottons' legal team included Lex Wotton's long-standing lawyer, Stewart Levitt of law firm Levitt Robinson Solicitors, as well as prominent anti-discrimination barrister Chris Ronalds SC, Aboriginal barrister Joshua Creamer, and barrister Shaneen Pointing.

Initial trial

The initial trial of the claims of Lex, Agnes and Cecilia Wotton, and the issues common to their claims and the claims of the class members was heard in Townsville over a total of 22 days, between September 2015 and May 2016. On 5 December 2016, Justice Mortimer handed down a 1,806 paragraph judgment, making nine declarations that the police had engaged in acts of unlawful racial discrimination, for which the State was vicariously liable.. Justice Mortimer also ordered that the State of Queensland pay $95,000 in compensation to Lex Wotton, $10,000 to Agnes Wotton, and $115,000 to Cecilia Wotton. According to the Wottons' legal team, the judgment left the door open for potentially hundreds of claims for compensation by Aboriginal residents of Palm Island who were affected by the police conduct.

Appeal

In January 2017, Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath instructed the Crown Solicitor to file an appeal from Justice Mortimer's judgment. The decision was quickly denounced by the State Member for Townsville, Scott Stewart, and the Federal Member for

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, Northern Territor ...

, Cathy O'Toole, whose electorates include Palm Island and both of whom were members of D'Ath's

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

. On 28 February 2017, D'Ath announced to the parliament that the appeal was being withdrawn after the State had received "a further considered legal advice about the state's prospects of success on appeal".

Class action settlement

In May 2018, the 447 members of the community involved in the class action were granted a million dollar settlement and an apology by the Queensland Government. By May 2020, not all of the money had been distributed, owing to errors in the list of recipients.

Alleged vilification

On 18 May 2020,

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

, in a " 9News investigation", revealed the recipients of the compensation spent some of their money on cars and boats. Its online report, titled "Palm Island riot compensation spent on luxury boats, sports cars and motorbikes" reported that some of the compensation money paid to the class action recipients had "been spent on luxury items including

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

s, luxury boats and dune buggies". While it reported on one man who had invested money for his family, it also cited a teenager who had bought three cars, and the sale of a boat for . On 19 May 2020, the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' printed an article substantially based on the Nine report. In August 2020 a group of Palm Islanders lodged a complaint with the

Australian Human Rights Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of the Commonwealth of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body fu ...

, under Section 18C of the ''Racial Discrimination Act''. Stewart Levitt of Levitt Robinson Solicitors said that the report was inaccurate and racist, implying that Palm Islanders did not deserve the compensation and were spending it irresponsibly. The community subsequently sued Nine in the

Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indictable (mo ...

for .

References