Senator MARGETTS (12:49 PM) —I just rise to indicate that Greens (WA) will not be supporting the exemption from the cut-off of the two bills mentioned. At the whips meeting this morning it was mentioned that exemption for the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Bill 1999 would be asked for as well. At that stage I did not know that both of them would be put in the same motion. That makes it perhaps more imperative that we make a statement in relation to that.

There are issues in relation to the broadcasting services bill which I believe ought to be taken more carefully, and I will bring that out in my second reading contribution. The reality is that there are other processes that are occurring at the moment in relation to the capping process. And we have other considerations, like whether or not the actual amount relates to what is happening with the desire for other services that people are asking for. I believe that the Australian Communications Authority is going through a process, and here we are jumping the gun before that is assessed. So on that issue alone it would seem to be a strange thing for us to bring on now what can be, in effect, a retrospective action in relation to the universal service cap.

In relation to broadcasting services, I think we have made it clear that we do not think it could or should be argued at a time when the government has said it has a very tight program. The government keeps wanting us to sit extra hours, extra days, and, potentially, extra weeks. I would not be in favour of that, considering the way that they are carrying on. Every time they ask us for extra hours we will bring up that they were prepared to take time off their otherwise urgent program to put extra bills into the program. If they turn around and say that they want extra time on the Telstra sale bill, the tax bills or some other bills later on, we will remember that they have taken time and forced this into the program now.

The reality is that I certainly will not be in favour of trying to push this through and continuing on at all hours for the next six weeks, because there will not be a great benefit, I believe, for the Australian people if the people in this chamber are not able to catch up with their work, if the people outside in the community are not able to catch up with the electorate program and if the Depart ment of the Senate and all of the committees are not able to catch up with the work that they need to do for the current and ongoing programs to be successful. So I think the government's arguments are not of sufficient merit to indicate that these bills are urgent enough for us to drop all other things, and I indicate that I will also be voting against the motion.