Senator ABETZ (Special Minister of State) (10:43 AM) —I commence my response by congratulating Senator Harris and thanking him for taking the opportunity of getting a personal briefing on this matter from departmental officials. He has gone to the bother of informing himself rather than coming in here with uninformed questions and expecting others to do the homework for him. He has shown a genuine interest in this issue by seeking to inform himself as best he possibly can. By doing that, he does save the Senate some considerable time. As I understand Senator Harris's proposition, he is saying that if the boundary could be moved to the east then more of the gas field would fall into East Timorese territory. He says that the line that has been drawn on the eastern boundary is an arbitrary line. It is, to a certain extent, an arbitrary line—albeit that it has been negotiated as being the eastern boundary. With respect to Senator Harris, I suggest that if we were to move it on this map by a millimetre or however much further to the east then that also would be an arbitrary line.

But, as I understand it, the eastern boundary is in fact a permanent boundary over which there is no discussion, and the discussions that are taking place between East Timor and Australia refer to the northern boundary. That is the area over which we are engaged in dialogue with the East Timorese government. My attention has been drawn to paragraph 2.4 of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties November 2002 report, report No. 49, which states:

zone of cooperation—

There is a map on page 2 of the report that details that. But, as I indicated earlier to Senator Harris, the eastern boundary is a permanently delimited boundary between Australia and Indonesia. I am not sure that I can take it further than that at this stage, other than to say that I accept that, to Senator Harris, that would not necessarily be a satisfactory way of handling the matter. The departmental officials are, of course, available for further discussion. That may well be after the legislation has been dealt with, but I am sure that they would be able to satisfy you and ease your mind on some of the concerns that you do have.

The TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN (Senator Lightfoot)—Senator Harris, it might be appropriate to seek leave to have that document tabled. That would assist Hansard and it would also assist others who are not present but who are busy elsewhere in this building to appreciate what detail there is there.