Guy Nathan: Legal Services Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Guy Nathan: Legal Services Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:658;Page:7389] 
Hon NATHAN GUY (Associate Minister of Justice) 
: 
 It is great to take a call on the Legal Services Amendment Bill and I take up the comments that Lianne Dalziel just made that this is an issue that is wider than party politics. Indeed it is great to see that coming up to the anniversary of this new Government the Minister of Justice Simon Power has gone on with the 100-day legislation of this new Government by bringing this bill into the House. 
I acknowledge the work of Chester Borrows and his Justice and Electoral Committee colleagues for getting this bill through so quickly. It is particularly important that this bill is in front of the House today. The National Government is committed to addressing the physical emotional and financial stress that victims face. We are also committed to making our communities safer for victims of crime. Everyone will be aware that Parliament has been particularly busy this week focusing on law and order. With quite a bit of support from across the House this Government passed legislation that means that convicted offenders will pay a $50 levy. That will enable $13.6 million to be collected over 4 years that will support victims of crime. That is a big part of this Government’s priority on law and order. It also comes into this very important bill as well. 
This bill does a couple of important things. It removes financial eligibility testing and it improves the administrative practice of not recovering legal aid debt during the legal proceedings process. I want to make a couple of further comments about those things. This bill came about partly with the high-profile cases such as the unfortunate loss of Mr Kuchenbecker as a result of Graeme Burton running loose on parole. I bumped into an old university rugby mate on Lambton Quay. He had been caught in the crossfire that afternoon on his mountain bike out on the hills there and he had had his arm blown to bits. When I saw him he had all sorts of gadgets and screws out the side of his arm. He was so thankful and pleased to be alive even though he was unsure whether he would have the full use of his arm again. It is good to see this Government getting on top of what is a very important issue. 
The select committee received six submissions and two submitters were heard. Some felt that this bill does not go far enough. It is good to see that a review is being undertaken by Dame Margaret Bazley on legal aid. I heard the Hon Simon Power say that he is looking forward to receiving the final report from her. That report is particularly important because we all acknowledge certainly on this side of the House and I am sure around the House too that the legal aid system needs some improvement. Another important thing is that victims are placed under a huge amount of additional pressure when going through the legal process. This bill will help streamline that and give them some sense of natural justice. 
With those remarks I say that it is great that we can support this bill in its second reading. I look forward to seeing the Supplementary Order Paper that has been flagged by the other side of the House. I thank Chester Borrows and the Justice and Electoral Committee for their good work and I support this second reading.