Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (19:58): on indulgence—I wish to add to an answer I gave in question time today. In question time today I answered a question from the member for O'Connor concerning native title. In my answer I indicated that the Western Australian Premier had not personally raised with me matters related to native title compensation. The Premier wrote to me on 14 April last year regarding financial assistance for native title compensation and settlements. I wrote to the Premier on 23 May last year noting that in 2001 the Howard government made an offer to the states and territories in relation to native title compensation, but a shared costs arrangement was not agreed to. This exchange of correspondence was reported in the Australian newspaper on 6 January this year. As I stated earlier today, despite my quite frequent contact with the Premier of Western Australia, the Premier has not taken the opportunity to raise this matter with me personally, and by that I mean face to face.