Labor candidate for Forrest, Lorrae Loud, has pledged Bunbury Community Legal Centre will have the resources it needs to keep its doors open should Bill Shorten and the Australian Labor Party win the July 2 election.
The pledge of $300,000 over the next three years is part of a $43 million commitment by Labor to frontline legal services. Ms Loud said there is significant demand on the services provided by the centre and without this funding, they will struggle to meet that demand.
“Women escaping family violence need to be able to access legal advice and often simply cannot afford the services of private lawyers,” she said. “The centre provides invaluable support to women at a time they are at their most vulnerable.
Ms Loud said a Shorten Labor government will ensure the people of Forrest have access to legal services in times of need.
This week, Australian actor Michael Caton joined the Law Council of Australia’s campaign for greater funding for free legal help for disadvantaged Australians.
Caton famously played Aussie battler Darryl Kerrigan in 1997 cult-classic The Castle, where he enlisted the free help of a lawyer to fight of a developer to save his family home from a planned infrastructural development.
"Unfortunately justice doesn't come cheap," Caton said. "When the little man is up against someone who's got unlimited access to legal opinion (with) the best silks and the best lawyers – what's that all about?”