Page 4440 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 21 November 1990
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Government Law Office
Proposed expenditure - Division 100 - Legal Services to Government, $11,399,400
MR CONNOLLY (4.43): Mr Speaker, I rise only briefly on this matter; really just to put the Opposition's position on record. We would not expect Mr Collaery to come before this place again next year and double the budget for legal services to Government. This is one of the areas of dramatic expenditure increase from last year; but, of course, this is explained by the dramatic increase of responsibility that the Territory has assumed, and that obviously has the support of the Opposition.
Proposed expenditure agreed to.
Proposed expenditure - Division 110 - Community Legal Services, $7,071,100 - agreed to.
Proposed expenditure - Division 120 - Administration of Justice, $5,081,000 - agreed to.
Proposed expenditure - Division 130 - Maintenance of Law and Order, $54,680,500
MR MOORE (4.44): Mr Speaker, I raised some concerns in this house and in the Estimates Committee about this sum of money, and, whilst I realise that it is being accounted for by an equal grant from the Commonwealth in this particular year, there is great concern about how we are going to be able to maintain this level of funding for the police force over the next few years.
I am aware of our application to the Grants Commission and some of the issues were certainly sounded out during the Estimates Committee; nevertheless a situation where we are approaching $55m for our police force is a great worry. It is of great concern to me that, when I moved for a committee to look into possible ways of ensuring that the money that we do have available is appropriately spent, the Alliance Government chose not to take up my motion but rather, as with many other things, to defer it until another time.
It is important for us to look very carefully at that funding because at some stage in the next few years, as we become responsible for the funding of our police, the community needs to feel confident that our excellent police force - and let me emphasise that again: our excellent police force - is in a position to be able to continue without having to suffer the problems of low morale that will come with massive cuts, if it comes to that. Personally I cannot see any way that it will not.
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