However the Human Rights Commission said it was told late on Wednesday that the Minister was pulling out from speaking at its forum. Senator Brandis' decision to cancel comes after a torrid two days in which he and Mr Abbott struggled to explain data retention plans under an enhanced national security policy. He has also come under attack from some of his own colleagues over his handling of now-abandoned changes to race-hate laws. Some Liberal MPs suggested Senator Brandis' ''right to be a bigot'' comment allowed critics of the changes to turn the debate against the government. However, a source said Senator Brandis had simply taken the fall for the Prime Minister's desire to hose down backlash from ethnic communities over the proposed repeal of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act in order to garner support for enhanced national security powers.

Muslim groups outraged over national security proposal But the move has so far not impressed Muslim groups with the Australian National Imams Council vowing to ''vigorously campaign'' against the proposals, calling them a direct attack on the rule of law. ''ANIC believes that the proposed changes to the anti-terrorism laws will severely impinge on the rights and freedoms of all Australians and especially those of Muslim faith,'' the council said in a statement. The council has declined an invitation from the Australian Federal Police to attend a dinner on Thursday evening designed to foster closer ties between religious groups and law enforcement. The Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, said ''in all good conscience'' he would not attend the annual dinner marking the end of Ramadan in protest at the proposed package of laws.

Cabinet flare-up over data storage decision The Abbott government's controversial measures on data storage and its confusion over how its controversial decision to ask telcos to store the internet and phone logs of Australians would apply to web browsing also caused a flare-up in cabinet. Fairfax Media has learned that Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull complained to his ministerial colleagues that the decision taken by the national security committee on metadata was leaked to the media before it was taken to cabinet. Mr Turnbull does not sit on the security committee but ministers can be seconded into meetings where matters relating to their portfolio are discussed. Sources say he raised concerns about the committee's decision and argued he should have been consulted, particularly in relation to the ramifications for the telecommunications industry.

He also expressed dismay that the decision had been leaked to a newspaper before Tuesday's cabinet meeting. Mr Turnbull will meet Senator Brandis on Thursday to try and further clarify the government's policy and its implications for telecommunications companies, including the costs. Mr Abbott on Wednesday sent mixed messages about whether or not a person's web browsing history would be captured under the proposal. He initially said web history would be included but later stressed it was the "metadata" and not the content that would be stored. Senator Brandis similarly struggled to explain what internet history authorities could access in an interview on Sky on Wednesday afternoon.

He said the government was not interested in what people were "viewing" on the internet but said individual website addresses would be stored. Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said "metadata" was a term that "could include the internet browsing history" and called on the government to clarify its intentions. "Disturbingly it's apparent that the government itself has not even agreed on what the detail of what their own scheme is going to be," he told reporters on Thursday. "I don't know what the government's proposing, we're waiting on the details, the Australian people are waiting on the details," he said. Loading

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