Statements
The Briefing … Justice for Palm Islanders
Good morning, and welcome to The Briefing.
The Queensland government has agreed to pay $30 million and deliver an apology to settle a class action brought by Aboriginal residents of Palm Island.
The settlement, to be paid to 447 claimants, settles a lawsuit brought by Palm Island man Lex Wotton in 2014 alleging the government and Queensland police were racist in their response to the Palm Island riots of 2004. In 2016 Wotton and other Palm Islanders were awarded $220,000 in damages after federal court justice Debbie Mortimer found “officers preferred confrontation to engagement … because they were dealing with an Aboriginal community” …
Read here
The Saturday Paper