Mr. Peter O'Brien:

We would welcome Senator Lombard's suggestion of a monthly reporting mechanism whereby the Department would report to the committee. One of the major problems with the process is the lack of a timeline for anything. That is why we are looking at one year, two years or two years plus for the issuing of a licence. There is no accountability and there is no yardstick against which the forest service can be measured. What the Senator suggested would be very important. A farmer's charter could also be considered. It formed part of the Mackinnon report. The question of timelines and a farmer's charter were raised in the context of the basic payment scheme, BPS, years ago, streamlining that process significantly.

I will make a final comment before Mr. McAuley deals with the rest of the questions. Deputy Sherlock spoke about the Mackinnon report. To be perfectly honest, I believe it has been buried. That may be an inflammatory comment, but this situation has been going on for too long. The person was identified eight months ago but has not been appointed yet. That is not good.