DISTRICT COURT OF QUEENSLAND

REGISTRY: BRISBANE NUMBER:

Applicant:

AND

First Respondent: STATE OF QUEENSLAND

AND

Second Respondent: SALVATION ARMY

AND

Third Respondent: SALVATION ARMY (QUEENSLAND) PROPERTY TRUST ABN 32234126186

AFFIDAVIT

I, [Ex-l company director of an(rsayasiollows:-

REDACTED in the State of Queensland make oath

1.

2.

3.

EX

I was born on ~ in or about 1972 I was at the instigation of my mother declared "unco~ade a Ward of the state by an order to the best of my knowledge, of the Magistrate's Court at Windsor.

Following upon that Order I was placed in the care and custody of the Wilston Boys Home conducted by the State of Queensland and remained there for a period of two to three months from on or about the 71h of September 1972 to on or about 30 October 1972.

During my incarceration I was subjected to repeated physical and sexual abuse including the following:-

(a) Being made to strip in front of officers;

(b) Being required to witness officer masturbating;

{c} Being masturbated by the officer;

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AFFIDAVIT Filed on behalf of the Applicant Form46- R.431

Solicitor I Justice e Peace

Milne Lawyers Level 2, 32 Park Road, Milton 4064 Telephone: (07) 3367 0343 Facsimile: (07) 3367 0716 Ref: CM:LAK:4488

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{d) Being subjed to threats of being beaten by guards and or other boys if I told anyone of the incidents of abuse;

{e) Being ordered to masturbate in the presence of an officer;

{Q Being leff alone in cells for days on end kl solitary confinement without guards attending;

(g) being subjected to exposure of a guard's penis;

{h) Being forced to give oral sex to the guards;

~) Frequently being pushed and punched, being hil over the head by the guards or being kicked;

G) Being pushed over;

{k) Belng subjected to threats and intimidation that if I told anyone that I would be sent to Westbrook 'Nhere the worst boys and violent boys went;

(I) Being subjected to threats that the other boys would bash me.

4. These things occurred in circumstances where I was too embarrassed to tell visiting family members. I did say to my mother that "bad things are happening to me that shouldn't be mum• or words to that effect. My mother responded in effect, "that if I had been good, l wouldn't be here and I must deserve ir.

5. On or about the 30111October1972 I was transferred to the Alkira Home at lndooroopilly run by the Salvation Army and remained in their care and custody until or on about the 14th of December 1973. Annexed hereto marked with the letter~s a true copy of records I have obtained from the Salvation /J.Jmy evidencing my custody.

6. I was subjected to physical abuse and sexual abuse by the members of the staff of Alkira immediately after arrival including by the House Captain Wilson. The abuse persisted and was as follows:

(a)

(b)

{c)

(d)

{e)

{Q

{g)

Fondling my penis and testicles;

Being forced to shower without privacy and under observation of a guard;

Having my genitals touched under the pretence of a check for appropriate hygiene;

Being patted on the backside when going into the shower;

Having my testicles touched on entry to the shower;

Having my genitals washed by a guard;

Being made to strip;

,_l.LJ.J_---'-'-WJ.14:! forced to masturbate the House Captain; EX

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Deponent

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(ij Being forced to submit to ora sex having performed on me;

0) Being forced to give oral sex;

(k) Being masturbated while attempting to sleep at night;

(I) Being forced to watch the officer masturbate;

(m) Being required to play with the offtcer's tesUcles while he masturbated;

(n) Being required by the Captain to take his pants off;

(o) Being subjected to the Captain handling my genitals;

(p) Being subjected to threats not to tell anyone;

(q) Being subjected to exposure of the Captain's penis;

(r) Being subjected to being masturbated by the Captain;

(s) Being required to give oral sex including having him ejaculating in my mouth;

(t) Being subjected to beating on the buttocks while stretched naked over the Captain's desk;

(u) Being subject to digital invasion of my rectum;

(v) Having my bare buttocks hit with a leather strap;

(w) Being beaten to the extent that I could not stand;

(x) Eventually seeking to escaµ? to avoid of the abuse.

7. Several times I ran away from A!kira because of the treatment. Each time I was caught. Each time I was severely beaten on successive days after my return.

8. I suffer various symptoms as specified below:

(a) Panic attacks, characterised by the fear that I can not breathe while experiencing my heart racing;

{b) An inability to settle, feeling knotted up in my stomach, requiring medical attention (particularly at night) causing difficulties with sleep and as a result chronic tiredness;

{c) Propensity to cry upon hearing of simular abuse, suffering the feeling of being choked up;

(d)- A range of fears and anxieties relating to parenting impairing my relationship with my two boys;

(e) A paranoia of being with the children naked while bathing or

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(D A fear of touching or intimacy;

(g) A sense of disappointment upon hearing that my children were boys rather than girls because of the fear that they may suffer abuse simular to that suffered by me against them including~ touching the children's private parts while bathing or toileting;

(h) Suffering similar fears and phobias with my two year old granddaughter resulting in refusals to bathe the child;

(i) Being chronicaliy ln fear of how people will judge me and that they are likely to think that I am an offender and an abuser myself;

U) I have suffered a sense of loneliness all my life and have been a "a loner" characterised by an inability to form close, trusting reiationships with people and on going friendships;

(k) I am prone to be overly controlling of other peoples situations which causes me difficulties with my relationships;

(I) I suffer feelings of depression on a frequent and chronic basis;

(m) I suffer a propensity to overeat in an attempt lo overcome feelings of depression, including weight gains of estimated 16 kilograms of the past 2-3 years;

(n) My sexual functioning is variable. I suffered a significant reduction of libido in the mid 1990's followed by a period of multiple affairs;

(o) l am regularly subjected to nightmares and bad dreams with repeated themes of being murdered or stabbed or being hung;

(p) I am repeatedly subjected to intrusive memories regarding the abuse on a daily basis;

(q) I am extremely reluctant to, and avoid using urinals, and only use a cubicle because of the fear of being assaulted by other men;

(r) I tend to avoid churches for the fear of being sexually molested;

(s) I avoid going to the beach and avoid taking my family to the beach because I feel vulnerable when not fully dressed;

(t) 1 avoid groups of young children for the fear of being accused of being a perpetrator.

9. P.s a result of the abuse in the Wilston Boys Home and in Alkira I have never been sure (although 1 have had some suspicions) that the various symptoms suffered by me were caused by the abuse suffered in the two institutions referred to above.

10. My father was violent towards me and my next eldest brother, l;Jj•M• He apparently did not like the fact that I had red hair. I have no other understanding of why he seemed to intensely dislike me. My father beat me regularly.

EX

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11. I often saw my father assault my mother. He was a wharfi~- We lived in Auckland. Often he bought shellfish home. I remember him putting a raw mussel in my mouth. I had asked for one being an inquisitive child. It was disgusting and I could not eat it and wanted to spit it oul He kept my mouth closed and would not let me spit it out. My mother came and intervened. My father lost his temper completely and started strangHng her with a tea towel until she fell unconscious to the floor.

12. My childhood was spent in a large family which was poor. My mother was Australian and came frcrn a family that had been quite successful in business. She wanted lo marry a whariie frc:rn New Zealand who her family wanted nothing to do with. She was rejected when she married him. We lived in New Zealand and in all, she bore him 14 children. My father was a hea\J'j drinker and violent towards my mother. I was the 111h out of 14 ch~dren. There were eight boys and six girls. My mother left my father when I was about eight and moved to Sydney frc:rn New Zealand in 1967. We moved to Brisbane in approximate!y 1969.

13. When I was in primary school, I was in the cricket and football team and the band. For some reason, I did not adapt well to high school and was not made a member of any teams or groups. I felt rejected and insecure. I was small for my age. I started missing a lot of school. It was as a result of that truancy that I was institutionalised at the age of 13. I was made to feel by other members of the family that I had shamed the famHy and hurt my mother. Well into adult life I was admonished by fam11y members for this.

14. When I was released from the Boys' Home, my mother told us that my father might not be expected to live because he hCll a coronary condition and it was thought that the children should be taken back to New Zealand to see him. All of the family were taken to see him on his sick bed, but for some reason, I was not allowed to see him until everyone else in the family had, and then, it was reloctantly that 1 was taken in. This brings tears to my eyes when I think about it.

15. We stayed in New Zealand for about 18 months. In Auckland my sisterlil91t411 husband liilwho was a foreman on a local authority Council was able to fudge my age on an application and get me a job. I lived with them while working for the CounciL We came back io Australia after the 197 4 floods. I was about 15 years of age. I lived with my sisterl;Jj•f@' and her husband q at Mount Gravatt and started working at Kentucky Fried Chicken. After that I did many different jobs, staying with ld9•J+11 and !im for a year or so, then I went back to live with my mother at Petrie. My father came ba~ Austraiia on about three occasions and I saw him. He never displayed any intimacy or affection towards me.

16. I was never in trouble with police as a youth or young man and I have not had problems with alcohol or drugs. At 21 I started work at Coles in the warehouse. It was 1980. By 1985 I was a grocery manager at a store and left to work with relatives in the air conditioning business until 1990 when 1 started my own business lifj•m+Jl$clean!ng commercial air conditioning systems. I patented a robotic cleaning device. I sold out in 2002 and in about 2003 purchased a supermarket in Cardwell in North Queensland. I am also in the business of manufacturing plastic rainwater tanks. I have never had any counselling or seen a psychiatrist concerning the events in my childhood until 2005.

EX

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17. I viewed a Four Corners documentary on ABC TV ln or about November 2003 which was originally broadcast on the 18fll of August 2003 entitled 'The Homies". People told me about it. I emailed the ABC and received a copy of 1he video.

18. The documentary explored the childhood experiences of people such as me, the effects of that abuse on their life and !heir attempts to obtain compensation. Specifically mentioned was the Alkira Home at lndooroopflly run by the Salvation Army where 1 had been abused. Exhibited hereto and marked!EX Jis a true copy of the transcript.

19. As a result of seeing this show, I felt for the first time that I might be able to \a\k to scmeone about my experiences. Until seeing !his broadcast I had never told anyone, not even my wife mil

20. My shame and fear kept me from ever tell ing anyone what had happened to me. I did not feel that the management of the Salvation Army or anyone else wou Id believe me. I ht(J tried to tell my mother a few times but she cut me off and said that if bad things had happened to me I must have deserved it. Eventually, the Four Corners show was the catalyst to me seeing Mr Tony O'Connor, solicitor at the firm of Short Punch and Greatorex on the Gold Coast on 30 May 2004.

21 . Mr O'Connor told me I would have great difficulties because of the limitation perioo problem. At that time I had no diagnosis of a recogniSE!d psychiatric disorder. I had never had a consultation with a psychologist or psychiatrist. I was told there would be no damages for economic loss because I had been successful in business. I was not given clear advice that I had a claim. I was told that I would need an·acceptable report frqm a psychiatrist. My new solicitor Charles Milne has obtained a copy of my file from Short Punch and Greatorex. Exhibited hereto and marked~is a true copy of Mr O'Connor's file note of our meeting on 30 May 2004.

22. In June and July I made a lot of notes to myself writing down my recollections so I could give instructions to a psychiatrist and to the solicitors. This process was interrupted by my travel to New Zealand. During this time Short Punch and Greatorex prepared a brief for Sean Farrell, barr\ster.

23. On 11 October 2004 I had a conference with Mr O'Connor and Mr Farrell at the latter's chambers. I was again told I had very difficult problems with limitation periods, that I seemed to have no basis for an economic loss claim and that I wou ld need a diagnosis by a psychiatrist. I instructed my solicitors to retain a psychiatrist for an opinion.

24. I was advised by Mr O'Connor by letter dated 12 October 2004 that an appointment had been made for me to see Dr Peter Mulholland, psychiatrist. Exhibited hereto and marked ~is a true copy of the letter. Mr Milne has shown me a copy of the letter of instruction to Dr Mulholland he has obtained from the Short Punch and Greatorex file. Exhibited hereto and marked~s a true copy of the instructions to Dr Mulholland.

25. I never ended up having a consultation with or a report from Dr Mulholland. This stemmed from my shame and fear that people would know ·of my private shame. I attended at Dr Mulholland's surgery and we discussed how I could get a copy of his report after I had seen him and check it before anyone e~se saw it, even my soli \ rs, as I was so self· conscious of the shameful things I would have to tell the psychia 'st How ver, I was told

EX

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that the report wouldn't be my property, that it wou ld be commissioned by the solicitors, and that it would be sent to them first before I saw it. This caused me great distress and I did not go through with the consultation. I was not prepared to proceed with the report unless I had an opportunity of perusing it before any third party. This in tum caused a rift between myself and my Soiidtor Tony O'Connor.

26. In February 2005 I changed solicitors to Charles Milne at Milton and saw him on 7 February 2005. He reviewed the information I gave him. I stlll was insecure about whether anyone would believe me, felt great shame, and had great difficulty trusting anyone.

27. Mr Milne arranged for me to see Dr Blair-West, psychiatrist. I saw him twice in early March 2005. His report is dated 23 March 2005 but was not faxed to my solicitors until 11 April 2005. I saw it the same day. Exhibited hereto and marked i~~]s a true copy of the report. He diagnosed me as suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This was the first time I had a diagnosis from a psychiatrist or any medically qualified person that I had a distinct and serious medical condition substantial enough to warrant bringing an action.

28. I had an appointment with Mr Milne for advice on 11 Aprii 2005. I was advised that my right · to bring an action for damages was statute barred, but that the report probably provided the basis for an extension of time, but that the matter would need to be subject to an opinion from Counsel.

29. The advice I was receiving from my solicitors was extremely complicated, I didn't understand it, and it appeared to me the time problems were insurmountable.

30. From that time until the 22°d of March 2006 there was a breakdown in communication between myself and my solicitor. He required payment of his account before doing any further work and I required an assurance that there was a good Claim before making payment. Because of the deadlock with my solicitor I have been confused as lo whether there is a right to take action with respect to the matter. I have been wary of the costs involved in legal proceedings. and was told several times I might have no claim for economic loss. If my claim was to be largely for general damages, the obtaining of a specific and substantial diagnosis was important to my decision whether to try and commence legal proceedings after overcoming the obstacles created by the lapse of time.

31. It is only with great difficulty after many years of wondering whether my various symptoms were a result of the abuse or whether they were a result of my family background and whether I had a definite condition that I have been able to press ahead with the idea of a claim after receiving Dr Blair-West's opinion. As I was told by two solicitors that I had little prospect of a claim for economic loss, I doubted, un\il receiving Dr Blair-West's report, whether it was worth bringing a claim which might be limited lo genera! and special damages.

32. For much of my life I have tried to pretend that it did not happen and tried io forget but this has simply not been possible. The prospect that the abuse suffered by me was the effective cause of much my hardship and suffering has grown stronger and clearer over the past couple of years. This has been fortified by Dr Blair West's diagnosis. Without it, I would not have decided to go through with making a claim.

EX

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33. Any action was further delayed by my uncertainty that the abuse had in fact caused some of my problems as some may have been as a result of my childhood and background and difficult family circumstances including having a f alher who was an alcoholic and prone to violent abuse, the marriage break up of my parents, relocation from New Zealand to Australia and failing to adapt to that change, being one of 13 children and being a "bad boy~ by not going to school and being made a Ward of the State, and also being told by family members how I had shamed the family. I also feared exacerbation of my symptoms, which Dr Blair-West advised me would come with counselling.

34. I humbly request this court to grant the Orders sought and provide me an opportunity of having my case heard and determined in the hope that I may be relieved of my rational but ever present feeling that I was really the wrong doer.

35. All the facts and circumstances herein deposed to are within my own knowledge, save such as are deposed to from information only, and my means of knowledge and sources of information appear on the face of this my affidavit.

Sworn by the above named (EX before me:

EX

.... ..l EX

!deponent at Brisbane this the ? /(_ y/' day of March 2005

f ~ SOLTCITOR/JUSTTCE OF THE PEACE

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