'She should stand up and say sorry'

One of those is Australian mother, Kerri Lee Cowden.  

“I'm fighting because there's a whole group of vulnerable families that have been traumatised. They’re grief ridden. Their children are being exiled and they'll never come home ever again.” 

Her 34-year-old son is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence. He was born in New Zealand, but Cowden moved to Australia while he was a baby.  

Despite his lifetime in Australia, her son will be deported to Aotearoa when he finishes his jail time.  

“I want him where he belongs. He's grown up in Australia. His whole family are Australian citizens. He has Australian children. Why send him back to where he's got no one?” say Cowden. 

When Cowden heard of the work Payne was doing advocating for 501s, she was ecstatic, “I was all in. When you're vulnerable and in that situation, you are grasping at anything you can get, and she was giving hope to everyone.” 

In total, Cowden paid $750, including the registration fee and another $250 to help Payne with her advocacy work.  

Payne explained that after paying the registration fee, a lawyer would be in touch to speak to her son and gather evidence for the case.  

But Cowden says she heard nothing. 

“People [online] were starting to say that everybody's been scammed, she's taken the money and run. However, I don't think that's the way it was. I think she's done the right thing for a few years, and it’s all been overwhelming for her.”   

Behind the scenes, work on the class action had stalled. Payne told Tu'uta Katoa that lawyer Craig Tuck wasn’t doing the work he’d promised. 

She made a complaint to the Law Society, the outcome of which is pending.  

Tuck says the $10,000 doesn’t cover the work done and “there are very significant invoices outstanding and owed by Route 501.” 

Sunday understands the unpaid invoices total about $20,000. 

“I advised the company in early 2022 when invoices were not paid that we could no longer act,” says Tuck.  

“Payne has taken resources from our lawyers and specialists. We hope the promised funding is provided in due course. In the interim we continue to assist with individuals and families struggling with the deportation process and its consequences.” 

After the fall out, Payne went to Australian-based human rights lawyer Professor Patrick Keyzer of Reparation Legal law firm.  

In a statement to Sunday, Reparation Legal says “we committed to undertaking this significant human rights work because we believe the human rights of people who have been deported from Australia have been routinely and egregiously violated.” 

Instead of a lawsuit against the Australian Government, the team decided to make a series of individual complaints to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, although it would unlikely result in any compensation. 

Kerri Lee Cowden says she was never told of the change in lawyers or the shift in legal approach, “I donated to the cause and there's been nothing since. I haven't got a clue what’s going on. The money’s just gone.” 

But it’s not just Payne who should take the blame, she says.  

“I actually feel these lawyers who want their money should be stepping up and going pro bono. Families would donate to them if it was necessary, but their charges are so high. It's just out of range. People give up.”  

Reparation Legal reduced their fees by 75 per cent for Route 501. 

Sosefo Tu'uta Katoa paid another $10,000 for Reparation Legal at Payne’s request, while she continued to collect donations and registrations on her website.  

Broken trust 

At the time of her trip, Payne was in a relationship with 501 deportee Shayne Forrester. 

Born in New Zealand in 1966, Forrester had a difficult upbringing. As a 14-year-old, he witnessed his father commit suicide and never returned to school.  

In the 1990s he moved to Australia where he became addicted to amphetamines. Later he became a manufacturer of the drug and spent 14 years in jail for his crimes.  

Forrester wasn’t an Australian citizen so on his release from prison, he was immediately taken to an immigration detention centre in Western Australia.   

After complaining of intense pain, a doctor suspected Forrester had prostate cancer and advised him to see a urologist.  

Instead, he was moved to Christmas Island where he spent two agonising months in detention without appropriate medical care.   

He was deported to New Zealand in February 2021 and was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.    

“I've battled [cancer] now for two years. I've had so many ups and downs. I'm going to soldier to the end of this, not just for me but for all the 501s and their families. They shouldn't be treated like this,” he says.  

Forrester says Payne’s compassion and attention was flattering. The two quickly grew close. 

Forrester had signed up as a claimant to the class action, paying the $500 registration fee in $100 instalments. His sister paid another $1,000 to Payne’s company. 

During their six-month relationship, Forrester says he saw Payne spend money from the Route 501 account.  

“I was actually with her two days prior to her going to Switzerland. I drove her around shopping. I was with her when she bought a Calvin Klein jacket, thanks to the 501s”. 

He claims she also used donated funds on her hair, beauty treatments, and shoes.  

Payne recently admitted to the Waikato Times she used “more than $1,500” from the Route 501 bank account to get her hair done, buy three outfits and some shoes, and to get clothes altered ahead of the trip to Switzerland.  

Forrester says he feels embarrassed he asked his family to contribute to the class action and UN trip, “she did push very hard ... I felt really, really obligated to give money”.  

While on another trip to Australia, Payne called Forrester saying she was staying with someone who was unstable, and she needed money for emergency accommodation.  Worried for her safety, Forrester says he transferred her $2,500.  

Unbeknown to Forrester, Sosefo Tu'uta Katoa got the same call and he also gave her $1,000.  

Tu'uta Katoa’s donations to Payne total $31,000.  

“This is not just about money, it’s about trust. I trusted her and she broke that trust and used the money on the wrong things. 

“We’re trying our best to change this system and [people] just look at us like, oh they’re 501s who cares?” says Tu'uta Katoa. 

Meanwhile, Forrester and Payne’s romantic relationship soured.  

Forrester insists he has never been physically abusive, but admits they exchanged “nasty” texts during the breakup.  

Earlier this month, after complaints to police from Payne, his house was searched, and he was charged with misuse of an electronic device.  

He represented himself in court and pleaded guilty to the charge. Instead of issuing a sentence, the judge imposed a “suspended” sentence, or a “good behaviour bond” for six months.  

Sunday is aware of at least two other 501s that Payne has been in relationships with.