Some Manus detainees reject $70 million compensation

A Victorian judge is considering whether to approve a $70 million class action settlement for current and former Manus Island detainees.

Manus Island detention centre AAP

Manus Island detention centre Source: AAP

Some Manus Island detainees believe a $70 million compensation settlement is too low and does not address their ongoing plight, a court has heard.

About 70 per cent of the 1923 group members in the class action, who represent the majority of people detained on Manus Island since 2012, have so far registered to be part of the settlement.

There have been 164 objections to the settlement with the Australian government and centre operators, the Victorian Supreme Court heard on Monday.

The objections primarily came from men still held at the offshore immigration detention centre, said the independent counsel assisting the court, Michael Rush.
Mr Rush said the objections included that the $70 million settlement sum was, in all the circumstances, too low.

He said another objection was the settlement did not resolve the ongoing plight of group members on Manus Island or those whose claims for refugee status were still to be determined.

Others wanted the conditions at the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre to be made public, Mr Rush said in outlining the objections.

"This case provided an opportunity for the public exposure of the circumstances and events that took place on Manus Island and the effect of those events on those who are there," he said.

The objectors argued the case should not be settled and a trial should go ahead.
They also objected to the government and centre operators settling the case without any admission of liability.

The court heard 145 of the 164 objectors have registered to participate in the settlement should it be approved by the court.

Legal firm Slater and Gordon hopes to get the money paid to the detainees before the Papua New Guinea centre closes at the end of October.

Barrister Fiona Forsyth said the urgency to get the money distributed to group members before the centre close remained.

"There's still the same urgency for group members which has been one of the driving forces behind this settlement, to seek to obtain a fair and reasonable outcome for group members as quickly as possible," Ms Forsyth said.

The government has also announced that asylum seekers transferred to Australia for medical reasons face being stripped of their welfare payments and government-supported housing.

Ms Forsyth said that added some urgency for that group in receiving their share of the settlement.

The Commonwealth's barrister Chris Blanden QC said the current instructions from the government were that the centre would close by the end of October.


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Published 4 September 2017 1:38pm
Updated 4 September 2017 2:19pm
Source: AAP


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