The botched expulsion of Australian Greens co-founder Drew Hutton cost the party’s Queensland division at least $165,000 and will compel it to “train” delegates in the principles of natural justice, leaked records show.
The confidential minutes of a Queensland Greens’ management committee meeting confirm that Mr Hutton was paid $50,000 plus GST to settle the legal action he had launched to overturn the termination of his life membership.
The documents detail the soaring cost of the saga to the Greens, kicked off when the party went after the 79-year-old stalwart for criticising its pro-transgender rights policies. Mr Hutton established the Queensland branch in 1991 and set up the Australian Greens a year later with his friend and foundational leader, Bob Brown.
Last July, the state constitution and arbitration committee (CAC) voted to expel him for platforming transphobic commentary on his Facebook page, a claim Mr Hutton rejected. He insisted it was an exercise in free speech.
But after he took action in the Queensland Supreme Court, the Greens’ own lawyers concluded he had been denied natural justice by the party. In an abject climbdown, the state division restored Mr Hutton’s life membership and settled.
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