Senator MOORE (Queensland) (12:02): Mr Deputy President, I seek leave to make a short statement. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Leave is granted for one minute. Senator MOORE: Labor opposes this motion. We were not consulted on the wording. The wording is factually incorrect. There are elements in the motion we support. There are parts of the Independent Local Government Review Panel report that New South Wales Labor supports, and we are surprised that the New South Wales Greens seem to want to abandon it. New South Wales Labor opposes forced council amalgamations and has had a long and consistent position with respect to this. Labor is very concerned about the Abbott government's almost $1 billion cut to financial assistance grants, and we have been clearly on the record regarding this broken promise to local communities. Labor is the only party that local government can depend on to stand up for it.