MARK DREYFUS MP

Tomorrow I will chair a meeting of the Police Ministers Council to discuss key law enforcement priorities including a National Firearms Register, cybercrime, Closing the Gap and addressing criminal street gangs.

The Albanese Government is delivering on its commitment to work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on justice reinvestment in First Nations communities.

Today we celebrate the legacy of Eddie Koiki Mabo, whose tireless work overturned the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’ – the presumption that Australia belonged to no-one prior to 1788.

The Albanese Government has appointed two new Deputy Presidents, and made short-term reappointment of 32 members and two Deputy Presidents to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

The Albanese Government is committed to standing by those who helped Australia’s mission in Afghanistan, and will implement all of the recommendations of the final report of the Independent Review into the Afghan Locally Engaged Employee (LEE) Program.

Today the landmark review of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018 was tabled in Parliament. This review, led by Professor John McMillan AO, is a thorough analysis of the operation of the Act in its first three years.

The Government proposes to recommend to His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, that he appoint the Hon Justice Emilios Kyrou AO as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia and as President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT).

The Australian Government recognises the critical role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (ATSILS) play in ensuring First Nations people have access to culturally appropriate and safe legal assistance.

The Albanese Government will help protect faith-based places with a new $40 million grants program to improve security and safety.

The Albanese Labor Government is continuing our commitment to combatting modern slavery with a funding boost of $24.3 million for the Support for Trafficked People Program (STPP).