Senator STOTT DESPOJA (Deputy Leader of the Australian Democrats) (12:36 AM) —For the very reasons that the government have outlined that they do not support the amendments, the Democrats do support the amendments. We think that people, especially those in adjoining areas, have the right to have as much information as possible. I know the government's counterargument to that is, `Well, they can write in and apply for it.' I do not think that Australians should have to rely on the extrasensory perception—the ESP—provisions of the bill and contact the government for more information. I think they should be informed in one fell swoop at the outset of the process.

I am not sure of the Labor opposition position on these amendments, but I am sure that Australians will once again see this as another lost opportunity to actually ensure that there is adequate public awareness, information and education and, thus, increased public faith in not only the technology but also the regulatory process. I might add that I was not kidding before when I was talking about the swelling ranks of Democrat support, because I notice that it has just come through on the news that our support is higher than it has been in a year. That has just popped up. So clearly we are having an instantaneous effect on our polling, as a consequence of this debate. I say that facetiously, but I do anticipate that Australians will be somewhat dejected by the opposition to these amendments. The Democrats will be supporting the amendments being moved by Senator Harris. I put on record my disappointment at the way that the media, certainly on the wire, is reporting this debate as being that somehow the government and the opposition are being hijacked or ambushed into debating the legislation and how we are `dragging on' the debate, when basically this is an enormous bill that has a lot of amendments and is quite complex. I do not think that it should be dissed in that way.