Mr BRERETON —My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It concerns the government's diplomatic lobbying in the lead-up to the July meeting of the World Heritage Committee. Is it the government's view that you face a difficult task in persuading members of the committee to keep Kakadu off the List of World Heritage in Danger? Minister, can you guarantee that the government's international lobbying on Kakadu will be conducted in an open and transparent manner, based solely on the merits of the case and without consideration of any offers or inducements to other countries?

Mr DOWNER (Foreign Affairs) —I can give the member for Kingsford-Smith one assurance: this government will always stand up for Australia's interests. We will, of course, lobby in support of our interests and we will obviously do so in a principled way. We will not do so in an unprincipled way. This issue is of concern to the government, and we make no apology for our determination to lobby to ensure that there is an appropriate outcome in the World Heritage Committee's consideration of the whole issue.

You can rest assured that we will do all we possibly can to get an outcome that is in the best interests of those jobs that would be created for Australians from this project. Off the top of my head, I think the figure is something like a thousand jobs in the Northern Territory. The Labor Party obviously does not support those thousand jobs, despite all the crocodile tears they shed over the issue of unemployment—and they are indeed crocodile tears.

The answer to the question is quite simple: we will do what we can in a principled, constructive but determined way to promote our national interest. But the House may be interested to know that it is now 531 days since the member for Kingsford-Smith has asked me a question. I congratulate him—in 1997, no questions, and in 1998, he did it.