MARK DREYFUS MP

Today marks the 39^th anniversary of the passing of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

Labor has requested that the Government defer debate on the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill until 2015 to give adequate time for a thorough consultation process to occur.

The Federal Opposition today called on the Government to publicly release an exposure draft of its legislation to require the mandatory retention of metadata for up to two years.

Labor welcomes the advisory report on the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) Bill 2014, released today by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

Labor welcomes the appointment of Professor Gerard Vaughan AM as the new Director of the National Gallery of Australia.

I welcome the Abbott Government's long-overdue announcement that it has abandoned its recklessly misguided proposal to repeal federal protections against racial hate speech.

The Abbott Government's decision to appoint Tim Wilson as a Human Rights Commissioner has come at the expense of Australia's first full time Disability Discrimination Commissioner, Graeme Innes AM

Labor welcomes the announcement that Orchestra Victoria will become a wholly owned subsidiary of The Australian Ballet.

George Brandis's first Budget as Attorney-General has shown his twisted priorities as Australia's First Law Officer by continuing to cut funding to legal assistance services.

The worst fears of the arts community have been confirmed in last night's Budget, as more than $100 million has been slashed from the Arts budget.