Mr BEVIS (5:06 PM) —The question of human rights in this country is one that all of us would, I think, subscribe to a similar view on. Sadly, there are differences now appearing in the implementation of policies in respect of key issues on human rights. We have seen that in the debate on immigration. We have seen that in the way in which Australians, particularly from non-English speaking backgrounds, are now being treated in our communities. We have seen that in the way in which some of the debates in respect of indigenous Australians have been conducted.

Sadly, quite unfounded comments about land rights in backyards as a result of the Wik High Court decision have clearly caused fear in some parts of the community. One of the great ironies is that the extent to which land claims on backyards—of course, they cannot impact on backyards at all—have been promoted and endorsed by the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Tim Fischer) and the Prime Minister (Mr Howard) has now backfired on the government.

What they have done, unfortunately for Australia, is to frighten a lot of Australians who have believed their false rhetoric. Having believed their false rhetoric, they have looked at the government's policies and do not believe they address it. One of the reasons that the One Nation Party got so many votes in Queensland is that the government, through its own fear campaigns, drove many of its traditional supporters away from it to the One Nation camp.

There is a lesson to be learnt from that: human rights are not issues that should be compromised. They should not be issues, in a civilised society such as ours, about which the major parties are in disagreement. It is a matter of concern to many people, I am sure, on both sides of the House, that that is the case at the moment. Mr Deputy Speaker, as I was not intending to enter the debate, it is not my intention to use the remainder of my time. I will gladly defer to my colleague.