Senator HILL (Minister for Defence) (7:32 PM) —I do not know the answer to that at the moment, because that is not really what we are debating tonight. Tonight we are debating the implementation bill, not the free trade agreement. I know that that upsets Senator Brown, but we heard his presentation on that subject before dinner.

Senator Brown believes that in this instance the executive should not have the authority to make treaties but that, rather, it should be the parliament that makes treaties. In other words, in this instance he seems to be arguing for a system of government that is closer to the United States system. That has never been the case in this country. The making of treaties is an executive responsibility. We have reformed the system in recent years so that the parliament is well informed about the decisions that the government intend to take and, through the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, has the opportunity to influence the decisions that the government intend to take. The work of that committee can also be useful in debate on implementation legislation such as that before the Senate tonight.

Senator Brown wants to take tonight's debate on this bill into a debate on matters relating to the agreement that has been negotiated between governments. I am respectfully suggesting that it might be his view that that is what the debate should be about, but my response is that that is not the bill that is before the chamber. The bill that is before the chamber concerns the implementation changes that are necessary.