Page 2620 - Week 08 - Thursday, 14 August 2014
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commission’s goals and priorities, as well as external factors, and ensure that the Legal Aid Commission is properly resourced so as to counter some of the impact of those external factors.
All of that said, and despite the static funding from the ACT government and the downturn in other revenue sources, the Legal Aid Commission continues to deliver the best service it can to our community. The commission has implemented some innovative ideas, such as the legal aid helpline, to be able to meet the needs of more clients and it is to be commended for these initiatives. I know there still is a significant level of turn-away, but I also am aware that the commission constantly strives to reduce that level. I know also that the commission constantly reviews its service levels and the ways in which those services are delivered. All of this, Madam Assistant Speaker, with static funding from an ACT government that seems blind to the commission’s goals and priorities and blind to the needs of many in our community who are most at risk and can least afford legal services.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Capital Metro) (4.36): Madam Assistant Speaker, the fact is, despite Mr Hanson’s apologies for the federal Liberal government, the federal Liberal government cut funding to ACT legal aid services, and they cut it in an arbitrary and indiscriminate manner which meant and means that the ACT Legal Aid Commission will no longer be able to deliver a range of front-line services to those people who need legal assistance.
The cut was arbitrary, it was over $300,000 worth of funding, and it has been removed permanently. They cancelled the contract. George Brandis cancelled written contracts with legal aid commissions around the country for the delivery of legal aid services to the most vulnerable, including women, women facing domestic violence, and Indigenous people. That was the decision of the federal Liberal government. That was the decision of Senator Brandis, the federal Attorney-General, and it is appalling. It is appalling that Mr Hanson stands up here and is an apologist for that arbitrary and indiscriminate funding cut. That is what happened, and the Legal Aid Commission will no longer be able to deliver legal aid, legal advice and legal representation to some of the most vulnerable in our community as a result.
Now, in contrast, this government is maintaining and indeed increasing its funding to the Legal Aid Commission. It has put in place funding to assist the commission with some of its most pressing and difficult matters, such as expensive criminal trials. Of course the government has also provided very significant amounts of funding for the most contentious and protracted matter that the Legal Aid Commission has had to deal with for a long time, which is of course the inquiry into the conviction of Mr David Harold Eastman, where many millions of dollars have been committed.
This government is serious about assisting Legal Aid to meet its obligations, and it is the case that the Legal Aid Commission continues to face a broad range of pressures. I am committed to working with the Legal Aid Commission to work these issues through. I am very pleased that the new chief executive, Dr John Boersig, has demonstrated significant leadership at this time, as did his predecessor, both of whom have been outstanding leaders for Legal Aid ACT. So the government remains committed to providing support.
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