At an Estimates Committee hearing on Friday, September 8, Attorney General, Mark Speakman was pressed on the matter, saying that former Member for Cootamundra, Katrina Hodgkinson, who had expressed her support for the project during her time in government, had wrote to him seeking $250,000 for the project. 

“She wrote to me in May seeking $250,000 over three years to establish a justice reinvestment enterprise in Cowra,” he said. 

When asked by the Hon. Lynda Voltz MLC if he had had any discussions with any members of the Cowra community, he said the department had touched base with the JR Project team. 

“An official from my department met members of the project on 17 August to identify Aboriginal justice programs that could be rolled out in Cowra like Circle Sentencing and Aboriginal court support,” he said.  

“We are continuing to work with the community to address Aboriginal justice issues in Cowra.” 

However Ms Voltz said funding has been spoken about for more than a year and asked Mr Speakman if and when the project would see any government funding. 

“This year I announced a $113,738 grant for the Cowra Youth for a Safer Community program, which will assist with local community programs and provide ongoing support for the continuation of crime prevention programs in Cowra,” Mr Speakman replied. 

When asked if this grant meant it would specifically go towards the JR Project, Mr Speakman said funding will come from Department of Justice resources. 

“I have announced an extra $6 million for community legal centres over the next two years. It will be funded from Department of Justice resources,” he said. 

Shadow attorney-general Paul Lynch said he was disappointed the State Government had still not guaranteed specific funding.  

“The funding sought is very modest and there’s quite broad community support for the proposal,” he said.