Australia cuts all government funding to environmental legal aid centres

A government decision to remove funding from environmental legal centres will expose communities to damaging development and reduce scrutiny on the mining industry,environmentalists have warned.

The attorney general’s officials has told the network of Environmental Defenders Offices that it will be removing the entire $10m in funding, over four years, announced by the previous Australia Labor government this year.

The existing $100,000-a-year stipend given to each EDO office, which has been provided for the past 20 years, will also be withdrawn, meaning all of the government funding for the environmental department will cease.

 EDOs operate by providing free advice to individuals and community groups on environmental law. As well as taking on legal cases, it handles advocacy and a helpline, which is used by around 1,500 people a year in NSW alone.

 Jeff Smith, chief executive of the NSW EDO, said the mining industry will be “breaking out the champagne” at the news of the funding cuts.