Senator SHERRY (Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate)(5.13 p.m.) —Firstly, I think Senator Campbell—and I will be charitable—has inadvertently misled the Senate by saying that the powers we propose for the Productivity Commission are even less than those that existed under the old Industry Commission. I have a copy of the old Industry Commission Act here and, in fact, looking at it, what we are inserting I think is identical to what is contained therein.

The great problem or concern we have, Senator Harradine—and I have reiterated this over and over again—is that we believed in a split, competitive model: three different organisations, with three different functions, responsibilities, reporting to different ministers. If we are taking this analogy that the Productivity Commission or the Industry Commission is the tiger, in respect of the Productivity Commission the tiger exists as before. The tiger is on a leash. It is let loose occasionally. It slashes and burns. We do not like some of the results. But you can pull it back into line by ensuring that its functions and guidelines are controllable.

If we make the analogy that EPAC is the elephant and BIE is the lion, and you combine all three together, we have a horrendous beast indeed. It has no leash at all, particularly when it is under the direction of the Treasurer. Also, effectively, considering the accountability we had previously with the other three organisations, with BIE reporting to the industry minister, and EPAC to the Prime Minister, I am sure that the industry minister, Mr Moore—although I have never seen any statement from him—would be less than happy at what has happened to the BIE.

If this government wants to narrow the various diverse and, in many cases, very important independent reports which were brought down under the three previous organisations, and if it wants to combine those organisations, we will not be happy with that. If, at the end of the day, we are to support this legislation, we want to ensure that the tiger is as controlled as before. I think Senator Harradine would understand that, if you combine three different organisations, with all of their previous powers and responsibilities, the effective outcome is much greater. The authority that it has is much greater than the power and authority which the three individual organisations had previously. That really is the essence of Labor's concerns with the government's approach to the Productivity Commission.