Page 2309 - Week 08 - Thursday, 7 June 1990
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MR STEVENSON: This is very relevant to the questions that are being asked, Mr Speaker. Mr Duby said that the Bill does not legitimise X-rated videos. I do not rebut that myself. I do not need to. I used the words of the Chief Minister. He said that the mere fact of taxing these products gave them a status and an acceptability which they had not hitherto enjoyed in the wider context of the ACT and Australian society. He said that it did legitimise them.
In this case he was discussing Ms Follett's legislation. He went on to say that, with this high-profile public endorsement by the ACT Government of X-rated videos, the defence that taxing them would neither legalise nor legitimise them was "totally specious". Those were the words of the Chief Minister which rebut the words of Mr Duby in the same way as the words of Mr Kaine rebutted the statement by Mr Humphries that the community did not care about this and that I did not speak on behalf of the community.
Mr Speaker, Mr Duby also mentioned that Mr Kaine spoke in November as the Liberal leader and that, in the matter of taxes on pornography, he spoke as the Alliance leader. Mr Duby said that he had bowed to the wish of this Assembly. Well, I suggest that Mr Kaine is not in the habit at all of bowing to the wish of this Assembly - the majority of members in this Assembly. However, he is perfectly willing to bow to the wishes of the majority of the Alliance. As we have already seen, the majority of the Alliance wanted a ban although there was not one, and the majority of the Alliance wanted no tax on X-rated videos. There were sufficient numbers within the Alliance to ban. The majority of people within the Alliance also did not want a tax on porn videos. How many times does the point have to be made? It is so obvious.
Mr Collaery and Mr Duby, who are not here at the moment, both said that I had a hidden agenda and extreme views. Well, let me make the point very clearly: indeed I have a hidden agenda and indeed I have extreme views. First of all, let us look at the hidden agenda. The hidden agenda is that I represent the people. I do not believe the majority of people in Canberra know that. Sooner or later the media perhaps will get that viewpoint across.
Let us look at my extreme views. It is interesting to look at the definition of the word "extreme". It means steadfast, determined and other such things. Perhaps if we had more people in the Assembly who took an extreme - - -
Mr Humphries: That is not in my dictionary.
MR STEVENSON: Well, I cannot find the exact quotes. They are even better. Perhaps if more people in this Assembly took an extreme viewpoint, or an unusual or radical viewpoint, then indeed the people would get true representation because, unfortunately, all too often we get minority representation.
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