Senator LUDWIG (9:45 AM) —I seek leave to make a short statement, Mr President.

Leave granted.

Senator LUDWIG —Similarly to the Australian Democrats, the Australian Labor Party continues to have a strong opposition to torture and the use of torture. There are a range of human rights and international conventions that oppose torture. In this instance, Senator Brown deferred his motion from yesterday. He then moved an amendment to it on the floor. It was not circulated on the floor; it was not provided to the opposition beforehand. I assume Senator Brown’s interest is in opposing torture more broadly, but in those instances where Senator Brown does not want to take the usual process of providing the opposition with those types of issues, I can assume that he does not want the support of the Labor Party on those matters.