“He basically said to us, ‘here’s X amount, that’s all you’re getting. If you don’t like it, tough because everything else is in my superannuation account and you’re not getting a penny’,” Brown said.
South Australian paedophile Peter Liddy is another who benefited from the same loophole to avoid substantial payouts to his victims.
He was South Australia’s longest-serving magistrate before being sentenced in 2001 to 25 years in prison for sex crimes against young boys he’d met at a local surf club.
Andy Martin, 52, was nine when he was preyed upon by Liddy.
He and other victims were unable to receive any substantial civil compensation from the wealthy former magistrate as most of his fortune was protected in his superannuation account.
“It hurts me more and more, the longer it goes on without being acted on,” Martin said.
“It should have happened yesterday.”
Loading
Lawyer Andrew Carpenter has been leading the charge from South Australia to have laws changed and believes it’s a “no-brainer” for the government.
“The only people that would be against implementing this legislation would be the paedophiles themselves,” Carpenter said.
In the 2018 announcement, O’Dwyer thanked those involved in the petition “for bringing this issue out into the light and making sure that Government is aware that this has been going on”.
“And as a government we have responded,” she said. “We initiated a review into these provisions late last year to see what changes needed to be made in order to provide those victims with compensation. I can announce that the government will make changes to legislation to ensure that serious crimes, where there are victims of those serious crimes, will now be able to access the superannuation of those perpetrators.”
Loading
A spokesperson for federal Finance Minister Jane Hume told A Current Affair: “Since the release of the 2018 consultation paper review of superannuation and victims of crime compensation, Treasury has undertaken initial design work on the proposals outlined in that paper. We anticipate undertaking additional consultation prior to finalising a bill for introduction into the Parliament.
“Given the vulnerable stakeholders who the measure would target (many of whom are victims of violent or sexually based crimes) and the multitude of court jurisdictions that would be captured, it is very important that the government get these policy settings right. There are difficult issues to be dealt with including balancing the rights of multiple victims, potentially multiple claims over time, and interactions with family law and bankruptcy law.”
Brown urged the government to make the change as promised.
Crime victims urge federal government to close super loophole
Source: Philippines Alive
