Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That there be laid on the table, no later than 4 pm on 26 October 2009, a map of Australian forest cover using the Kyoto definition of ‘forest’ for each year since 1990, at the highest available resolution, in any widely used GIS format.

Question agreed to.

Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—The government opposes this motion. We note that the opposition and the Greens are voting together on this motion, and that would carry the motion. We will therefore not call for a division.

Whilst I am on my feet, I think I must have been in a time warp during the previous motions when I noted that the government and the Greens were voting together on those motions. It was the opposition and the Greens that were voting together on those motions, as has been drawn to my attention. So I am correcting the record, if I may.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I did note that the member who has just spoken, Senator O’Brien, did make that curious assertion that it had been the government and the Greens who were voting together. I think it is good that it has been corrected. The motion that he referred to, where the opposition voted with the Greens, was one seeking information. I would have thought the government would have been forthcoming with that information and obviated the motion. Whatever the topic here is, one of the things the Senate has a very strong record on is seeking information out of government when the government moves to block that information being made available. It is very curious that Senator O’Brien wants to point to the opposition for seeking that information and doing its proper job. The opposition is acting entirely properly there, and it is the government who is found wanting.