Senator HARRADINE (10:31 AM) —This is a very important matter. It is in the form of an amendment, and the amendment has been circulated only within, maybe, the last day. I can understand the difficulty that the Labor Party has. I do not know that it is entirely fair to criticise Senator Cook, because he did make a number of points, and I know all parties are involved in the human rights subcommittee's examination of the human rights dialogue that is being conducted around our area—the Asia-Pacific area. There has been a considerable amount of evidence that we have taken on that committee and it has consumed an enormous amount of time because we think it is very important.

I am very pleased that Senator Margetts has moved this amendment to the International Monetary Agreements Amendment Bill 1998 . There are some difficulties, including the question of whether the actual nominated conventions have been ratified by particular countries in receipt of contributions, whether they be Australian contributions or contributions from other countries. Rather than delaying the vote on this particular piece of legislation which would enable us to check out all of the conventions that are listed here, I suggest to Senator Margetts that we delete subparagraphs (i) and (ii) and insert an alternative provision. Accordingly, I move:

Omit subparagraphs (i) and (ii) and insert: the human rights norms and environmental standards contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international covenants;

Everybody, as I understand it, has signed on to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so there can be no quibble about that. Therefore, Senator Margetts's amendment would read:

and (c) the Treasurer is satisfied that the activities of the Fund, including the terms and conditions of the loans it makes, are consistent with the human rights norms and environmental standards contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and relevant international covenants.

I just wonder whether that might be an acceptable way for the committee to proceed.