Page 1011 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 26 July 1989
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MR HUMPHRIES: I do not know exactly where Debbie Does Dallas comes in in the scale of things, but I can remember the sorts of captions on the videos, and they, I think, are enough to describe it in very great detail. Perhaps on another occasion, when we are discussing this in more detail, Mr Speaker, I will bring some of the material to the chamber, and we can all have a look at it and see what we are talking about. I think we have to bear that clearly in mind. This material is not available anywhere else in Australia, with the exception, I think, of the Northern Territory, which has also had difficulties in imposing the ban. That has not led to a great export industry from the Northern Territory, I suppose, because it is more distant from other places in Australia. But certainly the ACT is the centre now of an export industry in this area.
In the case of the ACT it does mean, because these things are available in the ACT, that sometimes video covers - in particular video covers with offensively sexual or excessively violent material - are available freely in places like service stations, places where young children can go and see this sort of thing. It is offensive; it excites the interest and curiosity of those people to see what is on those videos. Do not tell me that young children cannot get access to those videos and they cannot see them. Kids of three or four years of age these days are able to work video machines. It is not impossible for them to get hold of them and see what is going on. The impact on young children of viewing some of this material when they do not understand what is going on can be quite devastating.
My party opposes the continued sale of X-rated video material and of excessively violent material in the ACT. We do not accept the fudging that is brought about by this label "non-violent erotica". We believe that it is offensive to all decent Australians. I believe that we should look at what we are talking about and, if we do, we will agree that the thrust of this amendment is entirely warranted.
I am quite interested to note that the industry has now been labelled a revenue raising area for the Government, and we now see money coming in from the area. There is no surer way, in my view, to ensure that a particular activity survives than to slap a tax on it so that the Government's interests remain in allowing that industry to continue and flourish because it will not want to do away with the source of revenue. That is not an acceptable strategy to this issue, and I certainly would not accept that.
Mr Stevenson: Sounds like a casino.
MR HUMPHRIES: I think this issue is different because of the impact it has on young children. No child can wander into a casino, whereas children will have, and in other places have had, access to this sort of material, and I oppose it for that reason.
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