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

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

lawsuit brought against the

State of Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

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 Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

and

Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...

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 The case was heard between September 2015 and May 2016, with an appeal brought and then withdrawn in early 2017.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 or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

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 Yvette Maree D'Ath (born 26 July 1970) is an Australian politician. She is a Labor member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland representing the seat of Redcliffe. D'Ath is currently the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services and Leader ...

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 Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert ...

Cathy O'Toole Catherine Elizabeth O'Toole (born 30 August 1956) is a former Australian politician. She served as the Labor member for Herbert from 2016 until 2019. Early life and career O'Toole was born and raised in Townsville, Queensland. O'Toole left s ...

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

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

. 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 The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, 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 five main free-to-air television netw ...

, 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 car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

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 tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' 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 Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but opera ...

, 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 of record 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 indic ...

for .

References