Mark Dreyfus demands answers on Australian police metadata breach

Shadow attorney general also asks why public announcement was made two days after case was reported to the ombudsman

The shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus has called on the attorney general, George Brandis, to explain the circumstances of the "shocking" and unlawful access of an Australian journalist's metadata by the Australian federal police.

On Friday, the AFP commissioner, Andrew Colvin, announced at a media conference that his agency had self-reported a breach of Australian telecommunications laws to the commonwealth ombudsman, having failed to obtain a warrant before accessing a journalist's phone records.