The Justice Minister has revealed that the total legal aid expenditure for the fiscal year to the beginning of 2018 was more than $6 million more than at the same point in the 2016/17 fiscal year.
Andrew Little produced a table with the figures in response to a written question from the National MP Alfred Ngaro. It shows the total expenditure at 1 January 2018 was $84.1 million, compared to $77.8 million 12 months previously.
Table 1 - Total legal aid expenditure for the fiscal year to date
| WPQ 598 | WPQ 588 | WPQ 578 | WPQ 569 | WPQ 556 | WPQ 550 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal Year to date | 1 August | 1 September | 1 October | 1 November | 1 December | 1 January |
| 2016/17 | $10,779,250 | $24,453,656 | $37,157,174 | $49,481,560 | $61,561,357 | $77,873,506 |
| 2017/18 | $10,796,318 | $25,263,551 | $39,564,236 | $53,015,888 | $68,472,478 | $84,144,716 |