Page 964 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 26 July 1989
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Mr Kaine: It was on television. I must have been looking at a phantom.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MS FOLLETT: I stick to that, Mr Kaine. I did not mention prostitution yesterday, but I certainly was asked a question about it this morning. My reply then was that I am aware, as we all are, that there have been moves made in other States towards the legalisation and regularisation of prostitution. That matter is something that I believe the ACT will have to give consideration to in the future. It is not something that the Government intends giving priority to at this moment, principally because we do not, as you know, have responsibility yet for policing in the ACT. I think that if you wanted to regulate prostitution there are a number of areas where the Government would need to get information and possibly take some action, and those areas include police and law and order matters. I think at present prostitution is essentially a law and order matter.
There are also, as all members would know, some very serious health matters that need to be considered in looking at the whole question of prostitution. The most significant issue at the moment in the health arena is probably the AIDS virus and whether prostitution has a role to play in either containing the spread of that virus or indeed whether it might be exposing people to further risk. I just do not know the answer to that. It is an issue that would need to be studied very seriously in any close examination of the prostitution industry.
There are also, of course, as I am sure members would be aware, some significant planning issues to do with prostitution. For instance, if those industries are to operate out of brothels or massage parlours, or whatever, they have to be located somewhere within a city. I think that that would prove to be an extraordinarily sensitive issue in the ACT if it were ever to be broached publicly.
Those are the kinds of issues which I think it would be important to look at in any review of an approach to legalisation of prostitution. The Government has taken no action on this matter at the moment. It is not a matter that we would give any priority to, but I think members would have some appreciation of the way in which we might go about examining that matter - of course, with full public consultation - if and when we feel compelled to do so.
MR KAINE: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. That was a long and comprehensive answer but it did not specifically answer my question. Is it the Government's policy to legalise prostitution?
MS FOLLETT: To the best of my knowledge, the Government has not developed a policy on the legalisation or otherwise of prostitution.
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