What external legal costs, if any, were incurred by any department or entity for which the Minister is responsible in each financial year since 2020/21, broken down by department or entity and by the nature of the legal work (litigation, commercial advice, employment matters, Treaty matters, or other)?

Answer

The Department of Conservation advises me that external legal costs are recorded in its financial system on individual files and invoices requiring significant manual collation and review. Given the volume of this information, it is therefore not possible to provide a response to this question in the timeframe available. However, for the member’s information, I am further advised that the Department has budgeted between approximately $1.1m and $1.8m per year throughout the six-year period for its Legal Services directorate budget for external spend on legal matters.