Senator SHERRY (Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate)(6.39 p.m.) —by leave—I move:

No. 1—   Clause 10, page 6 (line 17 to 20), omit subclause (2), substitue:

   (2)   In the report, the Commission must report on matters relating to industry development and productivity that have been referred to it.

No. 2—Clause 10, page 6 (line 21), omit "Without limiting the generality of subsection (2), the", substitute "The".

This pair of amendments reflects Labor's preferred focus for the Productivity Commission to be a specific reference body, not a general body. The legislation should ensure that all references which have been referred to the commission are included in the annual report.

If the commission wishes to put other matters in the annual report, that is a decision for the commission to make. If the Productivity Commission wishes to include data on productivity or any other matter, that is up to the commission, and it should not be prescribed in legislation. I think it is a quite reasonable and sensible improvement, and I do not intend to make a lengthy contribution in the debate.