Page 3418 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 18 September 1991
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It is incumbent upon this Assembly to consider the impact of this material. Since we could not ban it when we were in government, we adopted a taxation policy. That has failed. It does not even curtail it, and it has added nothing, in practical terms, to the revenues of the Territory. So, we have to look at another remedy, and I believe that Mr Stevenson's approach is the right one - and I do this with reservations.
I know that people in this chamber are going to argue that it is an infringement of civil rights, that it is censorship, and that those things are bad. Yes, they are; but there are two sides to any argument about freedom and licence. In this case, I believe that the material is harmful to some members in our society. It adds nothing to the values of our society. It is true that it is banned in the six States, although I believe ineffectively. I am not certain that our own legislation when it is put into place - and sooner or later it will be; if not today, then at some other time - is going to be any more effective than the legislation in the States in suppressing this material. But to do nothing is an admission of failure which we as elected representatives of this community should not accept.
I will be supporting, as I have done consistently, Mr Stevenson's position on this matter. It just so happens that Liberal Party policy adopts that position also; but I am trying to make the point that, irrespective of Liberal Party policy, I have my own personal opinion, based on a lifetime's experience. Some of that experience in the military and elsewhere has been pretty rough experience. I am convinced that this material has no social value, and therefore we should do what we can to eliminate it.
MR STEFANIAK (10.40): Following what the Leader of the Opposition said, I think it is appropriate to read the Liberal Party policy. This policy has remained the same since 1988; it was looked at again in 1990 and did not change. In relation to video classifications the policy states:
The ACT Liberal Party believes that the sale, distribution and exhibition of X-rated and excessively violent material in the ACT is undesirable.
Consequently, a future ACT Liberal Government will bring the ACT into line with all States by banning the sale, distribution and exhibition of X-rated video and film material in the ACT, and will review the film and video classifications so that excessively violent material is banned.
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