The Chamberlains – at long last- recently obtained a modicum of justice for their long running ordeal when the coroner found their daughter’s death had been due to a dingo or dingoes. Another person waiting for justice after many years is former Darwin Aboriginal art gallery owner , Shirley Collins, ruined by her involvement in the Bank of America Down Under Tour in the lead up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
There is a powerful document claiming Collins was made the “ scapegoat ” for shortcomings in high places . She found herself crushed by the now defunct ATSIC, pressured by barristers , had information withheld that one party in a court case indicated it was prepared to pay her up to $100,000 ( she has not received one cent ), and a disinterested media which got the facts mixed up when it did occasionally look at the case .
Nearly a year ago , Federal Court magistrate , Toni Lucev , based in Perth , at a Darwin hearing , reserved his decision in a bid by Collins to have overturned the rejection by a Canberra public servant of her application for an act of grace payment from the Federal government . Grounds for the reversal claim were that the public servant had acted as both case manager and decider of the application , contrary to the implied terms of the legislation. There has been no reply to an email sent by Little Darwin to the Federal Court well over a month ago for an indication when this decision might be forthcoming .
There is growing discussion in Darwin legal and other circles about the long time it is taking for a decision in this case. For Collins to succeed in obtaining an act of grace payment would not be a first for the Northern Territory. A former NT Administrator C.L.A. Abbott, in Darwin the day it was bombed by the Japanese , received such a special payment for no other reason, it seems, than that he was a bit short of money late in life . The Federal government also threw in a proposed no cost state funeral.
As a result of her more than a decade long ordeal , Collins was forced to sell her house, cash assets were seized and she ran up extensive legal bills. Former Darwin accountant, Barrie Percival, who firmly believes Collins has been the victim of a gross injustice, has greatly assisted her , claiming ATSIC , eventually sacked by the Federal government, acted on incorrect legal advice when it ordered her art gallery’s stock to be seized . A pensioner , now in ill health, Collins was a major player in the Aboriginal art world in Australia and also participated in other promotions in Japan and the US on behalf of Australia and the NT in particular .
