Attorney-General Vanessa Goodwin has washed her hands of the possibility that the Aboriginal Legal Service in Tasmania might not have its contract renewed.
Shadow Attorney-General Lara Giddings raised the matter during Budget Estimates, prompting an underwhelming response from Dr Goodwin.
“The Aboriginal Legal Service in Tasmania is fighting for the right to continue its own work,” Ms Giddings said.
“It has been forced to battle for funding in an open grant round against other organisations, including Legal Aid and is at the mercy of the Abbott Government.
“Tasmania’s Aboriginal Legal Service is the only service of its type in Australia that has not been directly funded by the Federal Government in the latest round of funding, begging the question as to why it is being picked on by the Liberals.
“The Premier is aware of this issue and has done nothing about it, while the Attorney-General simply passed the buck when asked about this extremely important issue in Budget estimates.
“Why aren’t the Premier and Vanessa Goodwin in there fighting for the Aboriginal Legal Service to be able to continue its own work.
“How can the Liberals claim there are “resetting” their relationship with the Aboriginal community when they refuse to take up the fight on issues like this.
“The Aboriginal Legal Service is co-located with health services and children services providing an holistic service to defendants and their families. We are talking about a vulnerable group in our community.”
“There is a real risk that if the service is taken away from the Aboriginal Legal Service, many vulnerable Aboriginal people will be made more vulnerable as they will not access services provided outside their community.”
Shadow Attorney-General Lara Giddings
