Senator BROWN (3:28 PM) —I cannot swallow that argument from the Labor Party. This Democrat amendment goes a substantial way towards improving the legislation, which will allow all manner of food goods with ingredients imported into this country, to be sold under `Made in Australia' labelling. Senator Woodley's amendment raises the bar from 50 per cent to 75 per cent. That is an excellent thing. It is not as strong as the Greens' amendment, which I failed to get through here a short while ago, but it is an excellent step in the right direction.

I say to Labor that it is not good enough to have consumers waiting on the prospect of a return to a Labor government. Now is the opportunity to improve consumer protection through this amendment and we should be taking it. It stands on its own merits. To simply say that it allows for two classifications, one for food and one for other manufactured products, and that that is not a good thing, is not an argument that can be carried through.

This will improve the labelling when shoppers are buying food. It will mean that many more products that get the `Made in Australia' label, or a better proportion of them, will have dinkum Australian ingredients in them. That is the test. That is why this amendment should be supported.