Page 1972 - Week 07 - Thursday, 31 May 1990
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imported master tapes and are also wholesalers, while retailers include the mail order or retail arm of manufacturing and wholesaling businesses, independent adult shops, video shops and other sundry outlets, such as newsagencies, pharmacies and petrol stations.
According to the evidence given to the Commonwealth Joint Select Committee on Video Material by the Adult Video Industry Association, the adult video industry is a significant manufacturing industry in the ACT and a substantial employer.
The proposed Act, which has been based on the provisions of the Business Franchise (Tobacco and Petroleum Products) Act 1984, will require all persons who wish to sell or hire X-rated videos from the ACT to be licensed. Licences are initially granted for one month and thereafter must be renewed each month on payment of the appropriate licence fees. The proposed Act is similar to that introduced by the previous Labor Government, with two notable exceptions: firstly, the proposed ad valorem licence fee is set at 40 per cent rather than 20 per cent; and, secondly, applicants will be required to pay an up-front ad valorem licence fee on initial application and then prior to the granting of each monthly licence, which will ensure that opportunities for avoiding the payment of fees are minimised.
A wholesale licensee will be required to pay a $50 monthly fee in respect of each premise plus 40 per cent of turnover on the sale or hire of any X-rated video. A retail licensee will only be required to pay a $50 monthly fee in respect of each premise provided all X-rated videos are purchased from licensed wholesalers. Retailers purchasing X-rated videos from unlicensed wholesalers - for example, a Northern Territory wholesaler - would be required to pay 40 per cent of the value of those purchases.
The taxing of the sale just prior to retail sale and hire will mean that the Territory will be taxing the same sales figures as are taxed by the Australian Taxation Office for sales tax purposes. Such records are, therefore, currently maintained by the industry.
The Bill provides strict conditions for applicants to meet before the commissioner may grant a licence. The commissioner must be satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that the applicant is a suitable person to hold a licence. In this regard the commissioner is required to take into consideration a number of matters including whether the applicant has contravened a provision of the Publications Control Act or has been convicted of an offence punishable by a fine of not less than $10,000 or imprisonment for a period of not less than one year.
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