Page 2758 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 21 November 1989
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residents and their children from unlawful attention to the industry.
This debate is not about the moral question. I think that speakers so far have tended to highlight that, and there has been an attempt to draw attention away from the real issue of a genuine tax on moral grounds. I think it is important that members, when they vote on this issue, have regard to the fact that a lot of water has passed under the bridge in relation to development of the budget strategy by the Government and there has been a lot of inactivity from members opposite in terms of assisting and participating in the consultative process. Of course, one understands that from an inadequate position they might not wish to participate in it. We have seen very little responsibility demonstrated from the other side of the house and I suppose, on that basis, we should have expected that they would not assist in a positive way in the development of the budget by the Government.
This legislation, Mr Speaker, will continue to be enforced and will be further supported by obligations and restrictions placed on the industry by the Bill. The Bill prescribes heavy penalties for trading without a licence. I note that failure to apply for a licence and pay the required fee will entitle the commissioner to both prosecute and seize an offender's X-rated videos. Under the Bill, the commissioner, prior to granting a licence, must have no reason to believe that the applicant has contravened or been convicted under the Publications Control Act or has been punished or convicted of a serious offence under any other law.
The commissioner, in granting a licence, must also be satisfied on reasonable grounds that the applicants are fit and proper persons. I expect that the appropriate legal conventions would apply in interpreting "fit and proper". This will require him to investigate an applicant's background and, in the case of a company, the background of the ultimate natural owners of the company and the directors, secretaries and officers of the company.
Once granted a licence, Mr Speaker, licensees are required at all times to keep the commissioner informed of the location of the premises from which they are trading. Where a corporation is a licensee, the names of all directors, secretaries and other statutory officers must be given. Failure to advise the commissioner of changes in premises and personnel could result in heavy fines or the possible loss of a licence.
So it is clear that the Government has taken a highly regulatory approach to the industry and at the same time it has sought to achieve important tax revenues for the delivery of other services in the Territory. X-rated video sales in the ACT will continue to be made from restricted premises, and the access to such videos for hire from video shops, et cetera, will continue to be restricted to
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