The Commonwealth has rejected an offer from the Hoddle Street killer to settle his lawsuit over alleged abuse he suffered as a staff cadet at Duntroon.
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Julian Knight, 46, told the ACT Supreme Court on Monday of the offer, which he said would end his bid for compensation.
The Commonwealth, represented by Robert Crowe, SC, confirmed the matter would not settle.
Knight – who was kicked out of the military college in the same year after a brawl with senior cadets in which he stabbed a man – went on a shooting spree in the Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill.
He is serving a life sentence in Victoria over the rampage that killed seven and injured 19.
Knight claimed Duntroon's negligence as his employer caused him to suffer personal injury, arguing that the Commonwealth was responsible through a breach of its duty of care, vicarious liability, and negligence.
The matter came before Associate Justice David Mossop on Monday for the first of a scheduled two-day hearing.
Much of the morning was spent arguing over the admissibility of the information contained in documents filed by Knight, including his submission to the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce.
Mr Crowe argued much of the information had been irrelevant to Knight's case.
Associate Justice Mossop deleted some of the information on the grounds it was "commentary" by Knight, but also allowed many of the passages to remain.
At one stage, Knight – who appeared via videolink from Victoria's Port Phillip Prison – argued much of the Commonwealth's material also contained irrelevant information and signalled he could also seek to have it deleted.
But he said he had not yet followed that course in the interest of having the matter heard expeditiously.
Knight also asked Associate Justice Mossop if the proceedings would be recorded and transcribed as he could appeal the decision to the ACT Court of Appeal once a judgment had been made.
The hearing will continue later this week.
