Senator WOODLEY (12:15 PM) — I do not want to speak for a long time on the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Amendment Bill 1999. I draw the attention of the Senate to the minority report on this issue given to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee which was signed by the Democrats, along with the Labor Party representatives. Let me indicate that the Democrats have not changed their minds since that report was submitted. I could go into a whole lot of theological analysis of what a 999-year lease represents in terms of human projection of the future, but I will restrain myself.

Senator Ian Macdonald —Spare us.

Senator WOODLEY —I think I should. There is a sense in which 999-year leases—which in the English language are almost an oxymoron, because when you talk about a lease you are projecting the idea of something which has an end to it—or a perpetual lease, in that sense, project something that has no end to it, so the two things really do not fit together. However, I will not take up the time of the Senate but will simply indicate that the Democrats' position is the same as it was when we added our name to the minority report.