Page 2792 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 21 November 1989
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The ACT Assembly in its early days passed a Bill to accept the Commonwealth censorship structure. Perhaps that is something about which we could have thought twice, and I say that particularly to those members who relied upon the Commonwealth to take the brunt of the attack in this issue. As the Commonwealth has taken this responsibility, it has been argued, so should it take on the concomitant function of reviewing the industry.
There are clear indicators in the report of the joint select committee, referred to by my colleague Dr Kinloch and others, to the incidental responsibility the Commonwealth has of oversighting the impact of such material. The fact is that, if the Commonwealth runs a censorship scheme, it needs to have a constant review process of working out what is the social impact of that material.
A good parallel is the functions of the National Capital Planning Authority, which has responsibility for the general standards and aesthetic principles to be adhered to overall, in general, in the development of the national capital. Clearly, in my view, the Commonwealth has an incidental responsibility to determine whether franchising the regulation of X-rated videos and, in effect, the structuring of the industry in the ACT will result in detracting from the national image perceived by the National Capital Planning Authority. I will come back to why I see that factor as relevant.
In causal terms, Mr Speaker, the Commonwealth censorship decision allows the video industry to be established in the ACT. That is a non sequitur probably, but the national significance of the Federal capital gives the States and the Northern Territory the right to comment on this issue. I think they have a right to comment. Even if people are repressed and living in Queensland, they have a right to comment because all of the people of the ACT hold the national capital in custodianship for the nation. I believe that the States have a right, and the phone calls we have had from Townsville to Tasmania and from Penrith to Perth are probably part of the proper democratic process. I am glad that they now are interested in Canberra.
Mr Speaker, the video classifications are Commonwealth responsibility, and we can hope to influence that responsibility. There is a Federal election coming up. Mr Hawke has until that time, depending on the result, the overall function for that system. The question arises: do we dam a river by attacking its tributaries, for those who want to ban pornography; or does the struggle really lie in the Federal arena at a Federal election? In my view, that opportunity can come in the next few months for all those people who have been contacting us.
But in the meantime the ACT Government has decided to proceed to regulate its industry and to put forward a tax Bill. In view of the fact that the Federal Liberal Party
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