Page 5043 - Week 17 - Wednesday, 12 December 1990
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Few people understand what is actually contained on X-rated videos. These are videos that are legally classified and readily available in Canberra. The videos encourage incest with such titles as Sister Dearest and China Sisters. They encourage child molestation with such titles as First Time at Cherry High, Daddy's Little Girl, Private School Girls, et cetera. They encourage sex with many partners and casual sex and adultery. They encourage male and female homosexuality, voyeurism and the use of women as sex objects in videos with titles such as Girl Toys. They encourage slavery and violence.
Many of these videos are allowed under the X-rated classification under "mild fetishes". All the videos are readily available through mail orders and those sex shops that are allowed to push X-rated videos in Canberra. With the concern in our society about AIDS and the untold millions of dollars that governments in Australia are spending on it, it seems extraordinary that the Government supports homosexuality and casual sex when these are acknowledged as the two major reasons for the onset of AIDS.
Many women are greatly concerned with the violence and rape which results from pornography. Robin Morgan coined the phrase "Theory and practice, pornography and rape" in 1974. In calling pornography anti-female propaganda, Susan Brownmiller made the same link in her book on rape, Against our Will. Recently in Canberra and Queensland women held public protests and marches to "reclaim the night". They have felt that increasingly women are not safe walking the streets at night-time.
The argument is also made that a ban will drive the videos underground. The suggestion that there would be a widespread distribution of pornographic videos once they were banned is baseless. Where would they be advertised? Once they were illegal throughout Australia such advertising in magazines and newspapers would not be accepted. If it was, it would only identify the offenders to the police.
While they may not be totally eradicated, their distribution will be dramatically decreased. The suggestion from those who profit from pornography, that they will move to the Northern Territory, should not deter this Assembly. The Northern Territory Government has clearly indicated that if there is a nationwide ban it would not go it alone. Should they try to go offshore, there would be even greater problems of higher costs, delivery delays and laws prohibiting them in other countries. They also would not be able to advertise in the media in Australia.
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