RUMOUR ABOUT DAWN AND THE COMMONWEALTH 'OFFER'

THE Adelaide Chinese Whisper RUMOUR machine has been in full ugly swing. (What’s new?)

Dawn has NEVER been informed or had ANY knowledge of the UTTER LIES being deliberately circulated by the guilty, and then continued by the uninformed OR lazy OR gossip mongers.

The RUMOUR:

*****'Dawn was offered a generous sum by the Commonwealth to cease all litigation on these matters, but she refused' *****

DAWN'S RESPONSE:

===>>> The Commonwealth Govt HAS NEVER OFFERED A CENT TO DAWN.

During formal Mediation, instigated by Dawn in 1998, with all parties over a period of 3 1/2 days, the Commonwealth REFUSED at all times to cooperate with the other 3 parties (SA Govt, ABC TV & Channel 10) who were trying to settle out of court at that time.

These parties were asking the Commonwealth to pay a paltry $20,000 as a small proportion of the whole offer – to get them on board. The QC representing the Commonwealth was on the phone to Canberra constantly, strongly advising them to agree. The Commonwealth belligerently refused.

FURTHER

During the five-month trial, the Commonwealth lawyers initiated an offer to Dawn that, if she released the Commonwealth from the action they would not pursue her for costs. IE. THEY HAVE NEVER OFFERED A CENT TO DAWN. Justice Debelle found the Commonwealth liable, so Dawn’s decision not to be blackmailed and threatened by the Commonwealth proved the correct thing to do at the time. Because of the strength of the judge’s findings, it was reasonable for Dawn to expect that any appeal would uphold this liability.

Three Supreme Court judges heard the appeal and overturned the liability of the Commonwealth and the 2 TV stations and, shockingly, ordered the INNOCENT PARTY, Dawn, to pay their costs. The legal precedent is that the GUILTY PARTY (Roberts, Cornwall, and the State of SA) pays the costs of the INJURED PARTY, AND THE COSTS OF ALL OTHER PARTIES LEGITIMATELY INVOLVED IN THE ACTION, ON EITHER SIDE.

Following this bewildering and unjust judgement, Dawn discovered that (a) two of the three judges had previous association with Judith Roberts (the Chair of the so-called “Independent Review”), who was found to be the “gross defamer”, and, (b) that the Chief Judge of the SA Supreme Court had sat on the Flinders University Council with Roberts since 1994 and so, in 2006, Dawn charged the judges with Undisclosed Bias but the judgement of these three judges was that they were not motivated by their previous contact with Roberts. Thus, their curious judgement on costs was upheld with the full knowledge that Dawn, an ordinary citizen, would be bankrupted and made homeless.

No other offer has ever been made by the Commonwealth.

Dawn Rowan

8th April, 2008.