SpeechHARETE HIPANGO (National): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise and take a call as a duty member of Parliament for the National Party. I acknowledge the contributions that have heard around the House in this debate on the Legal Services Amendment Bill. I preface my call by saying there are members in this House who have practised as lawyers applying for legal aid for clients. So I stand in the position of drawing on my former skills as a lawyer advocating a position taking instructions from a client despite advice being given but still taking instructions.The position has been made clear that at this time—and I follow on from the contribution of my colleague Mark Mitchell—the National Party takes the view at this time that this bill could have addressed things in a more substantive and wider-reaching way in terms of addressing access to justice.I said that I was drawing on my advocacy skills as a former lawyer having taken instructions from clients and advocating a position and the position I'm advocating at this time is that the National Party does have concerns. Certainly the intention is proper. It is a just one. Again standing as member who sat on the Legal Services Agency Board back in the early 2000s through the introduction of the Legal Services Act and all the procedural requirements and operational aspects associated with that I'm fully cognisant of the importance particularly for our vulnerable communities and persons of access to justice. Often the incursion is about the ability to be able to afford good legal representation and good legal services and part of having a legal services or legal aid lawyer is that the State provides the funding to be able to have good legal representation.I'm also standing in the capacity of having been a legal aid lawyer for clients in the Family Court in the mental health courts and in the criminal court. Had my clients not had the benefit of legal aid one questions whether they would have either been self-representing or been at the disadvantage of the system through not having a lawyer appointed through legal aid. I certainly acknowledge the contributions from Minister Allan the Minister of Justice on the relevance of this bill. The National Party is opposing it at this stage. It will go through its proper due process of scrutiny at the select committee and we will hear submissions from those persons who have been afflicted and affected by legal services fees and the initial $50 fee contribution and how it does impact people.I also pick up on the comment made by the ACT member Nicole McKee in terms of the fact that the departmental disclosure statement is not complete and that despite the intention of good policy it still needs to be examined in terms of how robust is the evidence in support it. That is what the select committee will do. It will hear importantly from members of the community in terms of how this has impacted on them in terms of the fees that have been required to be paid back and with the additional interest that's charged on that. But for many people the challenge and the difficulty they have had is that initial contribution of $50. And yes as lawyers there are many of us in this House who have practised legal aid and have had to make an application for that fee to be exempt.This bill will go before the select committee. It does have the numbers at this stage to get to the select committee and come back for the second reading with more substantive information from that departmental disclosure statement from the regulatory impact statement and importantly from members of the public who have been affected by the imposition of the requirements under the Legal Services Act.