Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Thorpe. I think that is an unfair suggestion to make of the government—a government that is deeply committed to reducing Indigenous incarceration and deeply committed to closing the gap, including making sure that we have a Voice to Parliament to allow and provide First Nations people with an opportunity to provide their views to this parliament about these matters.

As I've said, the Attorney-General has been meeting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services for some time, and in those meetings he's heard directly about the positive impact that those legal services can have on Aboriginal people's lives, their families and their communities. As I say, we have been concerned to hear about service delivery freezes and closures across these services, and we understand that funding for the services must match the high demand for services both legal and non-legal. That's why we've commenced an independent review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership, which provides the bulk of these legal services' funding. That will start shortly and be completed by the end of the year. (Time expired)