Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Legal Services Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Legal Services Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National) 
: 
 I rise to support the Legal Services Amendment Bill. We have made this bill a priority. The honourable member Lynne Pillay was complaining that this bill was not brought in during the first 100 days of this Government but at least we have put it forward as quickly as possible. In the first 100 days National delivered on what it promised in the election campaign. 
Todd McClay 
: We delivered all right. 
KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI 
: We delivered. What did the Labour Government give us in its 9 long years in office? It gave us the Electoral Finance Act which was useless. We have to repeal it. Our Minister of Justice has to work hard to repeal the Act and put up a fresh bill so that this country can have fair elections. 
This bill provides a lot of support for victims. Victims are already under stress as they might have lost their breadwinner there might be elderly parents who have to be fed or it might be a burden for someone to carry on the legacy of the family by feeding young children and parents. I have the example of Navtej Singh who was killed in South Auckland. His parents are both aged about 70 and he has left behind kids ranging from 3 years to 10 years. It is very sad. If his family had the stress of paying the legal fees it would be very unfortunate for them. 
This bill ensures that the victims of crime those who are affected by an alleged crime or those who have committed an offence who are involved in a Parole Board hearing or coronial inquest will not be subject to financial eligibility tests. Those people will not need to repay legal aid grants when they need to be represented by a lawyer. The bill also enables the Legal Services Agency to write off legal aid for victims at the time when legal aid is granted. This provision ensures that the Government will be able to respond swiftly. New section 36A which is inserted by clause 7 gives the Legal Services Agency the discretion to waive its right to recover legal aid when individual circumstances mean that enforcement would cause serious hardship enforcement would be uneconomic or it would be unjust and inequitable to enforce the debt. 
I would also like to quote a recent example of a victim in South Auckland. This victim got in a legal battle as a result of using self-defence and he was ultimately relieved of any conviction. I saw this man. He could not do his business he could not go and attend to his family and he was under a lot of stress. With burdens such as that it would be a great injustice for him if he was not given financial aid. 
This bill comes into force 2 months after the Royal assent is received. The bill’s changes will apply only for applications made after the date that the Act comes into force. Labour reviewed and updated the legal aid scheme in 2005 and it failed to pay attention to this issue. In fact Labour increased the number of people required to repay the legal aid grant with a specific focus on the area of permanent proceedings. In the Hon Phil Goff’s speech on the first reading of the Legal Services Amendment Bill (No 2) on 17 May 2005 he said: “Under the bill approximately 22000 legal aid recipients will be required to repay their legal aid grant either partially or in full. This is an increase of 14000 in the number of recipients required to make payment under the current regime. The same proportion of repayments will apply to criminal and civil legal aid thereby increasing the proportion of criminal aid recipients required to make the repayments.” 
The nature of justice gives victims the ability to actually participate meaningfully in these processes as they are able to engage legal counsel whereas previously they often had to confront the offender without the presence of experienced support people. National is delivering on its promises and is finishing what Labour failed to start. It is unreasonable to further burden victims with the financial cost of legal representation especially in matters to do with crime. 
Todd McClay 
: I don’t think they care. 
KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI 
: They do not care. 
National has promised to provide greater rights and support to victims of crime by progressing the bill. National is delivering on its promises. I assure this House that under the leadership of the honourable Prime Minister John Key this National Government will deliver on all the promises it made during the election campaign. We continue to work for the progress of this country. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. 
Bill read a first time. 
Bill referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee.