MARK DREYFUS MP

We support the bill because it will provide greater legal protections for our schools, for our universities and for our libraries and cultural institutions to operate efficiently in the digital age. At the same time, this bill balances the interests of rights holders with those of the important educational and cultural institutions that will benefit from the extended protections provided under the expanded safe harbour scheme.

There is no doubt that among the most rewarding cases I argued as a barrister were those that involved a fight for justice. The Stolen Generations Casein particular was a matter that I fought for at a very personal level. It was a case about redressing a deep injustice, and I remain very proud of having worked on it.

Australians rely on a compact between business and consumers, but in order for that compact to work consumers need to have enough money to spend on goods, and businesses need to be honest and act in good faith when trading.

While the redress scheme provided for in these bills is late and falls short in some important respects from the scheme recommended by the royal commission, I have no doubt that it will provide a measure of justice to survivors.

Today I speak as a former shadow minister for the arts but also as a Melburnian to express my shock and sadness about the burning down of the much-loved La Mama Theatre on Faraday Street in Carlton.

James Stott, known to everyone as Jim, was a giant of lifesaving in bayside Melbourne.