Page 3444 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 18 September 1991
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The Labor Party has gone quiet, Mr Speaker. That will be the beginning of effective measures to deal with this industry. The Commonwealth will have to bear those prosecutions because the Australian Federal Police are directed and run under their own legislation, and ultimately they report to the Federal Minister, Senator Michael Tate.
Senator Michael Tate will have to decide to launch those prosecutions of the video traders in Fyshwick who aid and abet the breach of State laws. It is up to the States to bring forward their laws. It is up to the Federal Labor Government to prosecute those offences under the Commonwealth Crimes Act. It is up to this chamber, when we resume in October, finally to face the music - I direct that more than anything to the Labor Party - and vote to support a proper amendment to the Crimes Act to allow this action to take place.
They are groaning over there, Mr Speaker. They are groaning because they see the industry disappearing. I have not forgotten the donation they took from it. I am sick of carrying the burden of this matter and the attacks on my integrity. I believe that you will get this debate again very soon in this house. It will be on a realistic basis and will not allow anyone to talk about the redneck people out there in the community who are offended - and they are properly offended to some extent.
I agree with Beatrice Faust in this excellent new publication of hers. I have twice heard her on radio being interviewed in relation to it. She says, "Pornography is a symptom, not a cause, of the malaise in our community". I am not going to concede my lifelong views on censorship because we cannot find another way of getting rid of a large proportion of this muck.
MR STEVENSON (12.12), in reply: It has remained a mystery to many why Canberra is still used as a base to distribute video pornography throughout Australia, in contravention of State laws and against the overwhelming evidence of the increased violence committed by some who are under the influence of pornography. It has been said that if we ban X-rated video pornography it will go underground and this will allow criminals to take over the industry. While this view may be genuine, it is most ill-informed. It is impossible for organised crime to begin an involvement in the porn trade as the X-rated video industry in Australia is already controlled by a major organised crime network.
We have heard talk about censorship and prohibition. We have censorship and prohibition. We all agree with it. Child pornography is banned, incest movies are banned, bestiality movies are banned, and others. In Australia there are sex movies, or so-called adult movies, legally available in thousands of video stores throughout the nation. I have not mentioned, nor have I tried to ban, those pornographic videos. They are R-rated videos.
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