Page 3423 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 18 September 1991
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If they are to be censored, the argument becomes not whether we censor but what we censor, where we draw the line. The argument by my party and by some of us on this side of the chamber is that that line should be drawn on the other side of X-rated videos. As Mr Kaine has indicated, those videos are not contributing anything to the quality of our society, and I believe that the evidence is very clear that they damage the quality and the fabric of our society. I for one have no hesitation in supporting this Bill to make X-rated videos illegal in this Territory, as they are in the States.
Mr Berry, as usual, has been playing the man rather than the issue. I am obviously concerned about the connections he has drawn and the connections that might exist. I certainly view with concern some of the things I have seen Mr Stevenson associated with, but I do not think they make any impression on the argument in this case. I do not believe that, merely because one might hold extreme political views, that makes one's views on everything necessarily invalid. In this case I believe that Mr Stevenson's views on the banning of X-rated videos are valid.
I have to say, though, on the other side of the coin, that Mr Stevenson's handling of this issue has been less than helpful over the last week. The claim I understand he made that debate on this Bill had to be adjourned last Wednesday morning because, to his surprise, Mrs Nolan was not present in the chamber is a rather unfortunate one. Mr Stevenson shakes his head, but he did tell me last Wednesday that he was not expecting Mrs Nolan to be away. Mr Stevenson knew that well before last week and ought not to have come into the chamber expressing surprise.
I do not much mind; it was embarrassing for this Assembly to have to adjourn that debate on the Bill and it should have been embarrassing to Mr Stevenson to have to send away many people who had come to the chamber to support him - basically, because he had stuffed it up, to put it frankly. Nonetheless, this Bill has now come before the chamber today. It will be voted on today for the last time in the life of this Assembly. I hope Mr Stevenson has done his homework on the numbers, but that remains to be seen.
I hope this debate does not recur unless the context of it changes dramatically. Certainly, I hope the matter can be settled today. Clearly, as far as my party is concerned and as far as I personally am concerned, we would very much like to see the legislation passed and become the law of the Territory.
MR JENSEN (10.57): The last time I spoke on this issue, like my colleague Dr Kinloch I put a set of views, and in the interim I have seen nothing that would encourage me to change those views. I propose to support the idea that is being put forward by this Bill. As I said the last time, when people were talking about jumping on buses and joining
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