Senator SPINDLER(7.37 p.m.) —Tonight I want to address three topics briefly. The first relates to the report of the Tripartite Working Party on Labour Standards, which I will be seeking to table later. Secondly, I will be referring to a collection of documents which show the infiltration of right-wing elements in gun shows and expositions, and in the organisations of genuine shooters. I will be seeking to table those documents also. They have been cleared with the portfolio holders and the whips to ensure that there is no difficulty with having them tabled. Thirdly, I will advert to the Victorian government's sacking of 21 regional business facilitators. I am not sure whether that sacking has already happened or whether it is to be implemented soon, but it is something of great concern.

The Tripartite Working Party on Labour Standards was established in response to a motion of mine which the Senate passed unanimously some 18 months ago. That resolution called on the government to take action on the issue of exploitation of children in child labour situations.

The tripartite working party has worked assiduously for more than 12 months under the chairmanship of a former Attorney-General, the Hon. Michael Duffy, and has produced a report which, I believe, needs to be seriously considered by this government. The recommendations of the report call on the government to take action against core labour standards—which is code for forced labour, child labour and other labour conditions—and to give priority to occurrences in our region.

The report says that we should and must incorporate issues of social importance, with particular reference to child labour, into our trade negotiations. It suggests that Australian government representatives and our financial institutions should build those issues into the programs and funding that they provide to other countries.

The recommendations follow reasonably closely the submission that I made to the tripartite working party. I put forward the view that simply prohibiting the importation of goods made by child labour will not fix the problem; we must address the abject poverty of families in many Third World developing countries, who are virtually compelled either to exploit their children in their own backyards or to sell them into bondage.

I proposed that the AusAID agency concerned with overseas aid expenditure allocate a small amount to a pilot project providing primary school facilities in those areas where child labour is rife. I also proposed the expenditure of some money to generate work and income opportunities for parents. The report suggested expenditure of $15 million per annum over four years. I was more modest in my submission, asking for $20 million for the pilot program.

I have had some discussions on this matter with the Minister for Trade, Mr Tim Fischer. I said that while I recognised that the government is concerned that labour conditions per se are the concern of the ILO and is therefore reluctant to move on these recommendations, surely there is some obligation on civilised nations like Australia to take some note of child labour and the 20 million children estimated to be subjected to extreme exploitation in our region. I said that the government should consider taking some specific action in that area.

The report will now be available from the table office. I recommend that people interested in this issue obtain a copy. I seek leave to table this report.

Leave granted.

Senator SPINDLER —The second collection of documents that I wish to address briefly was provided by a constituent of mine who belongs to the Gun Control Group. The documents suggest that at gun shows and gun expositions held annually in Melbourne there is on display, unfortunately, some quite obnoxious material, including swastikas and other nazi insignia, and literature from right-wing organisations, such as the Australian League of Rights and the Australians' Right to Bear Arms Association.

Also, at some of these exhibitions, old and banned copies of the magazine Lock, Stock and Barrel were available. Having been the target of quite sleazy and obscene attacks from that particular publication, and from leaflets distributed in several Melbourne suburbs, I appreciate the concerns of this constituent.

These gun shows and expositions are not generally open to the public, and certainly not to the media, and it is, I understand, fairly difficult to access them. However, some people obviously were able to do that—have taken photographs, picked up leaflets and have placed this before us. I believe it is a matter of public interest to consider that and to suggest to shooters and shooter organisations who are genuine sports people and genuine hunters that they should ensure that these people do not infiltrate their organisations and do not use the occasions where guns are being sold for the propagation of extremist right-wing propaganda which, surely in our society, we should avoid. I seek leave to table this set of documents.

Leave granted.

Senator SPINDLER —The final item that I wish to briefly advert to is an article by Peter Hunt in the newspaper Weekly Times of 12 June. It states:

Victoria's rural townships have been hit by a state government move to sack 21 regional business facilitators.

That is in the face of an independent study of the decline in services to rural communities, which was commissioned by the Anglican Church and which found that each facilitator assisted in developing at least 20 new suitable business ventures each year. The report's author, consultant Kate Hely, spent six months last year talking to 17 community organisations and 133 individuals in the Mallee, the Goulburn Valley and the Western and Central Districts. It is not just a trumped up report. It really does show the value of regional business facilitators.

It is also relevant to what is being done at Commonwealth levels. I draw the attention of senators to the so-called REDOs, the regional economic development organisations, which were established by the previous government and which, I hope, will be continued by this government. I wonder what this government will say to this move by a state government to withdraw its people and throw the whole load onto the Commonwealth government.

There was one particular community in Donald, in western Victoria, where I had occasion to meet Mr Graham Harris, the regional business facilitator of the program. The article mentions him and some enterprises. The Donald Fairmark shirt factory is mentioned. The manager, Beryl Milham, whom I have met, said that her facilitator, Graham Harris, had been a driving force behind establishing the factory. (Time expired)