Its a sad day for access to justice when the person who cut the legal aid funding during his time as WAs Attorney General and Treasurer has now been picked to be the Federal Attorney General.

The cuts made by his Government were all the more extraordinary when put into context of large surpluses and wasteful spending such as on Elizabeth Quay.

Headlines like Legal aid cut backs to hurt hundreds of West Australians were the order of the day under Mr Porter.

At the time, hundreds of Western Australians were denied access to Legal Aid due to an increased demand for services and an Attorney General who simply looked the other way.

This meant that the people who needed the service most were completely abandoned by the WA Liberal Government.

The Legal Aid Annual Report (2011/2012) notes that more than 20% fewer grants of aid were awarded in Western Australia while Mr Porter was Attorney General and Treasurer, and demand for those services continued to increase!

Given his record on Legal Aid funding and social services cuts, it is clear many more vulnerable will continue to suffer under the reign of Christian Porter and the Turnbull Government.