Senator COONEY (1:06 PM) —The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Border Interception) Bill 1999 seeks to give added protection to the Olympic Games movement in Sydney. I have seen you running through Sydney, Mr Acting Deputy President Campbell. It is not too late to set your sights on the Olympic Games.

This legislation is tied up with the whole concept of intellectual property. It is good to see that intellectual property is given protection. Perhaps we ought to give more protection than we presently do to intellectual property outside the Olympic Games. It has often been said in this place and elsewhere that intellectual property is the way forward to the future. The protection we give to the intellectual property connected with the Olympic Games ought to be the sort of protection we give to intellectual property generally.

In this context, I cannot resist pointing out a report that was done in this general area in 1995 by the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee. It was during that inquiry that the new system of Senate committees came in. The new system came in on 10 October 1995, as the Deputy Clerk will well remember. Like all their works, it was seminal at that time.

Senator West —A few of us remember.

Senator COONEY —As Senator West says, a few of us do remember. If more people remembered and took regard of reports like this, this legislation would have been passed with enthusiasm. In any event, the opposition supports this legislation.