Senator MACKAY (6:12 PM) —I am really not quite sure what to say after that contribution, I must say. But I would say this: I do not think Senator Alston has any real intention of ever getting any legislation through the chamber, from that contribution. I take Senator Harradine's point that he provided the minister with an outline of this amendment in March, so I think the minister has had a fair bit of time to do a bit better than that. Anyway, maybe he is here just going through the motions in respect of this bill; I do not know. I would say to the minister that I think Senator Harradine made a number of very good points. One of the good points he made is that the minister should listen very carefully to what Senator Harradine said, and I think the minister should.

The minister can keep arguing black is white for as long as he likes. Certainly, there is no intellectual basis for that level of rhetoric, but he continues to assert it. The reality is that, after all these months and after all the iterations with respect to this bill, he still cannot get the majority of the Senate to agree. And, if you cannot get the majority of the Senate to agree, what does that say in respect of people's views on it? He has been negotiating with parties and senators for months, and he has failed to convince anyone. The minister asserts that anybody in Australia can get access to whatever information they choose. That might be the case if you live in Kew or if you have access to a $6,000 plasma television, for example, but out in the regions it just is not the case. Senator Cherry, I know, is aware of this. You just do not have the plethora of access, for example. That is just not the real world.

As for the stuff about Paul Keating, there is obviously some odd obsession there and I may not go there. But I did think it was peculiar that the minister, who has been beating up on the ABC—and on everybody else in the chamber, incidentally, in the last speech—had the temerity to criticise or accuse other people of the same thing. Having been at those estimates, I thought Russell Balding played the minister beautifully, but we will move on from that. If the minister really wanted this legislation through he would have put some intellectual rigour into that last contribution.

We are supporting Senator Harradine's amendment on very similar grounds to the Greens and the Democrats in terms of the caveats. We are fearful that, if this amendment does not get up, the bill may well be passed without any ameliorating impact at all. Senator Harradine's amendment is the closest thing the Labor Party has to an ameliorating influence with respect to this legislation. We are in a very similar situation to the Greens and the Democrats in this. We do have similar concerns to those that have been outlined very cogently, I believe, by previous senators.

Senator Harradine's amendment does what this minister has been disingenuously claiming that his bill does. For example, Senator Alston claimed on Meet the Press last Sunday that the large media groups, News Ltd and PBL, would not grow under his bill but that the smaller players would. This is a somewhat Orwellian black is white idea. This is total rubbish. Without this amendment PBL Nine would be likely to buy Fairfax, and News Ltd would be likely to buy the Seven or Ten networks. Senator Harradine's amendment stops that. I would also like to say at this point that Senator Harradine had the grace to thank other senators for discussions, and on behalf of the Labor Party I would also like to convey our appreciation to him for his patience.

That is the situation we are in. We support Senate Harradine's amendment because we are fearful that the bill will get through. We hope the bill does not get through. We will be voting against the bill. But just in case it does, we are supporting Senator Harradine's amendment. We believe it actually goes to the crux of the matter. It is the cleanest amendment available in respect of ensuring that the more disconcerting aspects of the bill are removed. If we are going to have the bill—and I hope we do not—then this amendment will go some way to alleviating our concerns. With those short remarks I commend Senator Harradine's amendment to the chamber.