Senator MARGETTS(5.01 p.m.) —I am still listening to the debate, but at this stage I am disposed to support the opposition's amendment to the Charter of Budget Honesty Bill 1996 . We are talking about a situation where the parliament is prorogued. Therefore, a lot of the normal day-to-day work of Treasury would be different from that normally directed to it by the respective ministers of other departments.

We also have to take into consideration the fact that Treasury have specific models. If various options were put to them for costings, it may well be a matter of simply dialling in different numbers or different levels to get responses. A model or spreadsheet may be put forward for which a similar model already exists, depending on the options that have been put forward. If there were several different options within one tax model, for instance, I imagine it would be a matter of changing the figures to get out a difference response.

It has been said quite a lot during history that the best government is formed on the basis of the best opposition. In the interests of good government, one would think it would be hard for a sensible government not to want the highest level of challenge to them and their policies. When policies come forward as alternatives, it sharpens everybody to make sure that those things are well thought out.

I have not seen Senator Cook's proposal on which he spent all night working in relation to executive power. Quite frankly, the government are saying that they are doing something new. Between us we probably have to work out exciting ways in which we can all be more effective and more accountable—governments, opposition and minor parties. It seems bizarre that governments will be able to give out information about non-government policies if that is not the wish of the non-government parties.

I would think there would be many, many things that the Treasury are asked to do where permission is not given and where details are not automatically made public. Perhaps the Assistant Treasurer (Senator Kemp) can enlighten me. Is it the case that everything that is put to Treasury for costing by the government is automatically made public? If that is not the case, there is obviously a precedent. I might be wrong, but I would have thought that many requests put to Treasury were not automatically published. If that is the case, perhaps that way of doing things extends the costings of opposition parties.