Senator BROWN (7:56 PM) —That does tempt me to my feet. I am not going to enter into any argument with Senator Bolkus. I have heard the heavyweight arguments coming from the ALP before. We have seen them try to browbeat us into agreeing to log forests. We have even seen them try to browbeat us into such ventures as the uranium mines, dams and so on.

That is not what is germane here. Germane here is proper order. On the non-government benches, there has been a move to bring in a new amendment—that is, Senator Harradine's amendment—as against those we dealt with in December. The right and proper thing is to test that amendment before we go back to the position we had in December. We have made it quite clear that we will not be supporting that Harradine amendment. It does not make any difference which order it goes in, and let me make it quite clear why that is the case.

I am not going to be dictated to in selling out Aboriginal interests further by Senator Harradine or anyone else. The Labor Party can do that if they want to, there has to be a line drawn somewhere. If it is `brinkpersonship' that Senator Bolkus is engaged in here, it is not working. The proper order that Senator Margetts has put forward in dealing with these amendments should be the way we go. It does not matter. It is not going to change the voting outcome, and so be it.

Let me just reiterate that we have an alternative coming from Senator Harradine which is not just marginally different; it is vastly different, and it cuts out people who could make a claim. We can challenge each other all night as to which of the 800 potential claims come within or without the ambit of Senator Harradine's or Senator Bolkus's positions. The fact is that people will be cut out, and that is why all of us—Senator Harradine, the Democrats, the Greens and the Labor Party—should be sticking with where we were last December and ensuring that those people who have a spiritual claim, an attachment to the land, which comes through their grandparents, their uncles or aunts, are not cut out by the Harradine slippery slide away from that position towards the government, as is inherent in his amendment.

It does not matter what order they come in. Senator Margetts has put forward the sensible way of doing it. But, if the Labor Party wants to side with Senator Harradine against the government, and people on this side are in that or against anybody, so be it. We will not argue about the procedure. We will argue about the substance of what is happening. There has to come a point where you say, `Enough is enough.' There has to come that line. All of us had a position in December on this issue which we said was the bottom line then, including Senator Harradine. Senator Harradine has drifted away from his bottom line. As far as I am concerned, he can drift on his own because there are people out there in the bush who lose out if we drift with him.

I will be saying a bit more later when it comes to the upgrade provisions and the right to negotiate over the upgrade of lands. I will not canvass that here because that is going to be a test in itself. So much has been sold out already, though. Of course the argument always comes up, `Oh, well, drift a little further.' Not on this one. We stated our position in December, Labor did, the Democrats did and Senator Harradine did. But Senator Harradine has now decided to renege, to give away more against the wishes and interests of the indigenous people. Be that on his head. The Labor Party can decide what it wants to do in its own good time.