New NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby met with Legal Aid NT on Wednesday to discuss the agency's looming service cuts driven by funding shortfalls.
"It is extremely concerning to hear that as it stands Legal Aid NT proposes to reduce services unless requests for additional funding are met given they continually raised these concerns with the former government who did nothing," she said.
"In our meeting... Legal Aid NT outlined how this problem has been years in the making when former Attorneys General Natasha Fyles, Selena Uibo and Chansey Paech were in the hot seat.
"The CLP Government is committed to ensuring that our justice system is fit for purpose, efficient, and delivering high quality legal services to Territorians."
A spokesperson for NT Labor Opposition told National Indigenous Times the former Labor government "was the largest funder of NT Legal Aid for many years, even more so than the Commonwealth government".
"On many occasions Labor provided extra funding to Legal Aid on top of their yearly budget, which averaged between $7million and $10million per year," they said.
Minister Boothby said the former government had committed to reviewing legal aid services over two years ago, yet after agreeing to Terms of Reference, "promptly sat on their hands".
"The Chief Minister's Department has been tasked to work with the Attorney-General's Department to fix up yet another Labor mess that risks giving Territorians poorer outcomes," she said.
Ms Boothby said Legal Aid NT delivered a critical service, not just for offenders who need representation, but also in achieving outcomes for victims.
"I had a positive meeting today with Legal Aid NT," she said on Wednesday.
The Minister alluded to more people facing the already overloaded NT justice system under the CLP's approach to law and order.
"We value Legal Aid NT and know they are about to get even busier under the CLP Government's strong on crime agenda set to be passed in the first sittings of Parliament, starting next Tuesday," she said.
Justice and health advocates have warned that harsher, more punitive approaches to offending, particularly youth offending, is not a long term strategy for crime prevention.
Legal Aid NT is funded by both the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments.
The CLP said this week it will "continue to advocate at a national level for needs-based funding for the Territory".
This week, Ms Boothby also met with the acting chief executive of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, Anthony Beven, who she said "confirmed NAAJA's services are now fully operational".
"We're only six weeks into government, and the CLP is already being forced to fix the issues that Labor created over the past eight years," she said.
The Opposition spokesperson said "the Country Liberal Party is in government, it is now time for them to step up instead of pointing the finger elsewhere".
