Senator HARRADINE (9:47 PM) —I will be very brief. Unless I misunderstood Senator Bishop, Senator Bishop was talking about the first tranche.

Senator Mark Bishop —Both.

Senator HARRADINE —I think what you meant was the first announcement that we were talking about in this bill before the additional $300-odd million was put in. I accept that, but we are really talking about the sale of this tranche; that is, the 16 per cent. Out of the first tranche, Tasmania—if you look at the social bonus minus the natural heritage—was getting only 3.5 per cent. Sure, they are getting a disproportionate whack of the second amount—of the top-up from $671 million to $1 billion—but bear in mind that they were getting only 3.5 per cent.

Senator Bishop, I do not think you would be saying that Western Australia should get less than New South Wales because its population is less. I would not expect that from you as a senator for Western Australia, nor would I expect it from either Senator Colston or Senator Boswell. I think the point made by Senator Boswell was a very important point: that regional Australia has benefited from this particular sale as it would not have done under another formula.