The Australian Greens have moved a proposal that would save the Government unnecessary expense and prevent telemarketers from being able to call people who are about to be inadvertently deleted from the "do not call" register.

"Around one million telephone numbers are due to come off the do not call register in May, as entries lapse every three years," said Greens Communications spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam.

"The Government is about to embark on a costly process of advertising to get Australians to put themselves back on the register when they lapse.

"There is no reason why people should have to register their number every three years. I think it is unlikely they have changed their views on intrusive telemarketing during the three year period, and in any case a person can remove their number from the Register at any time.

"We have drafted a sensible amendment to simply preserve peoples' status on the do not call register. We encourage the Government to urgently adopt it - either as an amendment to the Telstra legislation, or in the 'non-controversial' debating time tomorrow," Senator Ludlam said.

Media Contact: Fernando de Freitas 0417 174 302