The Federal Government's backdown on cuts to community legal centres this week is a welcome relief in the Hunter.
The Hunter Community Legal Centre has provided thousands of people with free legal assistance, who can't access it otherwise, for 26 years.
The funding cuts would have seen the Hunter centre, as well as many centres across the country, close their doors and turn desperate clients away.
Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon couldn't be happier.
"I welcome the backdown from George Brandis and the government. Too many people rely on these services particularly the outreach services that go right up throughout my electorate. It's so important to so many people."
Many people across the Hunter find themselves in need of a lawyer through no fault of their own, particularly victims of domestic violence, who can't afford legal services on their own.
"While many people without the ability to pay find themselves needing a lawyer for all sorts of reasons, it's usually no fault of their own and this is important to social support and to just pull the rug out from under so many people in the Hunter was a bad decision and I welcome the backdown," said Joel Fitzgibbon.
