Page 1236 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 24 April 1990
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The New South Wales Government is continuing to do all in its power to inhibit the practice whereby this State's residents are supplied with X-rated video tapes by mail order from Canberra.
That is the Attorney-General of the State within which we find ourselves. The NSW Government is facing our situation in the ACT and is objecting to it. Its laws are being violated. What could be clearer? From our privileged enclave within the State of New South Wales, we allow the subversion of the laws of our immediate neighbours. I support Mr Stevenson's Bill, based on that piece of evidence alone.
There are similar views from David Parker, the Minister for the Arts in the State of Western Australia. Just as specific is Barry Handke, secretary to the Attorney-General of the State of Victoria, who said:
He -
that is, the Attorney-General -
has also recently written to the ACT Attorney-General expressing his concern about the availability of X-rated videos in this State as a result of the mail order schemes operating in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
In another letter, the Attorney-General of Victoria makes it clear that "under new legislation to be introduced, it will become an offence to keep X-rated or other objectionable matter on video hire premises". Note earlier the mention of the Northern Territory. The Attorney-General there is examining ways to prevent the establishment of a large scale X-rated video industry. He has said, "Under no circumstances will we allow this to happen in the Territory". Therefore, I call on you, my 17 fellow guardians of the very essence and ethos of this city, to support a piece of legislation which, if passed, will be recognised throughout Australia, on Anzac Day, as saying to all of our fellow countrymen, "We are not violating the spirit of your laws. We recognise that the States of Australia, the six founding States of Australia, have laws which ban X-rated videos. We are not violating those laws. We are aware of our duties and responsibilities as upholders of the nature of our national capital".
Here I would want to agree with something that Mr Collaery said. I regret that we are in this position. I regret that we are pushed to the point where our Legislative Assembly, concerned about the ACT, should be turned into a moral arbiter for the rest of Australia. I do not think that that should be our function, but we are being forced into it at this point. Ideally, I believe, we should turn the matter over to the Federal Government and to the
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