A rift is brewing between the Law Society of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Government after it was revealed the government allocated a substantial amount of work to a firm on the mainland.

Right to Information documents obtained by the Tasmanian Liberals show the government paid Minter Ellison Melbourne more than A$1m in the past two years for work they completed on the Parliament Square project including the preparation of documents and overseeing the tender process. 

Law Society of Tasmania president Bill Griffiths told ALB he did not understand why it was necessary for the government to allocate the work to a firm which does not have a presence in the state. “There might be occasions where you need to send an element of work outside for expertise, but not the whole project,” said Griffiths.

A government spokesman told Tasmanian paper The Mercury Minter Ellison was engaged through the Crown Solicitor's office because of the "high level and specific expertise required in relation to the Parliament Square development". However Griffiths disagrees, stating that there was nothing about the project which he considered to be complex and beyond the capability of a local firm. “And overall I can’t imagine a local firm would charge that amount,” he added.

The A$100m Parliament Square project has been plagued with controversy. Most recently the project was sent back to state’s planning tribunal after the Supreme Court ruled the tribunal did not properly consider the cultural and heritage value of a building required to be demolished for the project.