Burton Mark: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Burton Mark: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:640;Page:10488] 
Hon MARK BURTON (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I have had to wait for close to 18 hours to respond to those sad characters opposite. I think we heard from Mr Power and from the member from Wanganui—no it was Mr Worth. They all look very similar actually. What a sad place the National Party caucus must be! Those members are all so miserable. Every word that came from those two members was a litany of misery. I have to say that if we ever want a study in breathtaking irony we need only look to Mr Worth. 
We listened to what Mr Worth had to say and to his criticism of of all things the legal aid system and this Government’s performance with it. I have to say that the criticism was in essence that access to justice for all is absolutely critical and we stood criticised by Mr Worth because we have not yet reported on a process in which the legal profession is directly involved of reviewing the remuneration for legal practitioners because the work is still being done. We were criticised because a thorough process which that the Law Society is intimately involved in and is part of is not complete and we have not reported on it. 
We have committed tens of millions of dollars as a first priority to increase the eligibility of low and modest income New Zealanders because that was this Government’s first priority and for that I make no apology. It may be that the order of priority is different for those Tories on the Opposition benches but for this Government the first priority was to address those low and modest income New Zealanders who for more than 20 years had seen no increase in the rate of eligibility. Dr Worth suggests that the National Party is in some way concerned about access to justice for all but for 9 years in the 1990s it did nothing to lift the eligibility levels for low and modest income New Zealanders. It did not a thing. Further I ask Mr Finlayson what the National Party did for lawyers in those 9 years. What did it do to address the remuneration rates for lawyers? Did it adjust the rates during those 9 long years? Well to be fair yes it did—once. Once during 9 years the National Party adjusted the rates. Do members know what it did? It put the rates down. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Tell us what you have done. 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: This Government has lifted the eligibility for 450000 low and modest income New Zealanders. That member for once should stop shouting and just occasionally listen. [ 
Interruption 
] The member seems not to understand. The legal aid system is first and foremost about those who need legal aid. More than 400000 additional New Zealanders have eligibility. The work is being done with the legal profession. I have to say— 
The CHAIRPERSON (Ann Hartley) 
: Please be seated. Can I just say to the member that constant barracking is not acceptable. The member is really going over the top. I ask him to desist. 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: I put this question to members of the House and to any New Zealanders listening. If the first— 
Christopher Finlayson 
: It’s the Committee. 
Hon MARK BURTON 
: The Committee of the whole House is in the House I say to Mr Finlayson. This is still the House. I am sorry; I know that the member is new and I guess we can forgive him. 
I simply ask anyone who is listening and certainly any member in the Chamber whether the first priority should be a low-income New Zealander who is on $9 an hour or a lawyer who is on $150 to $500 an hour. That is the question that any responsible Government was confronted with. I make no apology for putting low and modest income New Zealanders as this Government’s first priority. 
The other extraordinary contribution was from Mr Power who for some reason has a problem with the idea that the Law Commission is busy getting about business and is doing work and with the fact that this Government then gets on and does some work and deals with the reports that the commission gives to this House. I know it was the habit during 9 long years of National to pretty much ignore such reports. This Government is getting on and doing the work. 
Mr Power then went on to say that the Ministry of Justice is doing nothing. What absolute nonsense! I can assume only that that member simply does not do his paperwork and does not attend to the business that he should as a diligent Opposition MP. I suggest to him that he pay a little more attention to what is going on. The list of work is extraordinarily long. The Ministry of Justice has never been busier. It is working on a wide range of projects. I suggest to Mr Power that he spend a little more time doing the work and a little less time simply sitting on his backside and not doing the job that he is paid to do.