Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Attorney-General, Senator Brandis. I refer to a joint letter from state and territory attorneys-general, including those from New South Wales, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Can the Attorney-General confirm that all of his state and territory counterparts believe the government's proposed cuts to legal aid, legal service commissions and Aboriginal legal centres will 'affect the most vulnerable members in our community, including, foremost, women and children who are victims or at risk of family violence, as well as Indigenous Australians'? Are they correct?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am familiar with the letter to which you refer; but, as does not much surprise me, you have misrepresented what the letter says.

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I quoted it.

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You quoted it, but you also asserted that the government has proposed cuts. There are no proposed cuts, because the matter of legal assistance funding is currently under discussion between the Commonwealth and the states and territories. The Abbott government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of the committee, including the provision of access to justice—a point I made as recently as last Saturday morning when I met with the directors of the Law Council of Australia at their annual meeting in Sydney.

Senator Collins, I am sure you are not aware of this, but over the next four years the Abbott government will provide $1.3 billion—

Senator Cormann interjecting—

Yes, Senator Cormann, $1.3 billion in Commonwealth legal assistance funding. It is the case that I have made the decision to reprioritise the allocation of that funding so that it focuses upon those most in need, and therefore one of the very first decisions I made as Attorney-General was to instruct that every dollar of Commonwealth legal assistance funding goes to front-line services and to casework so that every dollar of the Commonwealth's money—the $1.3 billion that we will be spending over the next four years—is spent on actual clients with actual needs, which is precisely where that money should be spent.

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can I take it, then, Attorney-General, that you agree with your state and territory counterparts, who say that cutting further funding from legal aid, community legal centres and Aboriginal legal services is 'short-sighted and ill-conceived' and that such a move will further set us back decades?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am glad you have admitted the false premise of your primary question. There is no proposal. No decision has been made to proceed in the direction that you suggest. And wouldn't it be a good thing if there were more money in the legal assistance sector? Wouldn't it be a good thing if when the Abbott government had been elected we did not inherit public debt—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Collins, the fact that you laugh at the notion of public debt as you sit behind the worst finance minister in Australian history, Senator Penny Wong, who also laughs off the notion of public debt—you left this sector as you left every other area of Commonwealth expenditure: impoverished by debt projected to peak at $667 billion. (Time expired)

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. What is the Attorney-General's response to his state and territory counterparts, including New South Wales Attorney-General Mr Brad Hazzard, who have asked him to guarantee no further funding cuts to legal aid commissions, community legal centres and the Aboriginal Legal Service? Can you make that guarantee?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You asked me what my response is. I will tell you what my response was when I responded to those colleagues. The Australian government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our community, including by providing access to justice. The legal assistance reform proposal seeks to ensure that current resources are directed to assist the most disadvantaged people in Australia with the greatest legal need to resolve their legal problems. The reform proposal also focuses on developing an integrated, sustainable legal assistance sector by encouraging greater coordination and streamlined service delivery. It is an opportune time to implement reform. Australian government funding arrangements for legal assistance providers expire on 30 June 2015. I went on over four pages to expand upon what the government proposes to do. This is a public document; I am happy to share it with you. That is my response to those colleagues.