At one point in this week's Four Corners episode on class actions, reporter Anne Connolly was interviewing Minnie McDonald, the lead plaintiff in the Northern Territory stolen wages claim.
As Connolly asked about a likely payout of $10,000–$14,000 per person — and McDonald expressed her disappointment — the phone rang constantly.
Eventually, McDonald picked up. "Eh, stop ringing," she said.
What were they ringing about?
“What’s happening, when we are going to get the money, and everything.”
That one sentence nailed what is wrong with the class actions system in Australia.
It’s the litigation funders and the lawyers who run the show, not the clients. And they are the real winners.
