WRITTEN QUESTIONS
9th Assembly

01/11/2004

239. Solicitor for the NT, Budget

Ms Carney to MINISTER for Justice and Attorney-General

QUESTION

Solicitor for the NT, Budget

I would be grateful if you would provide the answer to the following question in relation to the Justice Department's Budget for 2004-05. In order to assist you, please note that this question relates to output group: 1.0 Legal Services (1.1: Solicitor for the NT).

In 2003-04 the Solicitor for the NT was allocated $13.290m. In Budget 2004-05, the Solicitor for the NT is allocated 10.824m, which is a reduction of $3.83m.

In answer to a question during last year’s Estimates hearing at page 185, the Attorney-General said that “…in the last budget, we indicated an increased budget to the Solicitor for the NT of $1.3m to allow for the in-housing of some of previously outsourced legal capacity. That arrangement will go for 2 years, so we are half way through that”. He further advised that as a result of this increased funding, 9 positions were created and put into the Department of Justice.

1. If we were ‘half way through’ it last year, the effect of that funding now must have come to an end –

Is it intended that those 9 positions be retained and if so, how will it be done given the overall reduction of funding by $3.383m.

ANSWER

Answered on