Page 3175 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 18 November 1992
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MR STEVENSON: They would be fined and go back out on the street. That process was not doing much at all to control the industry. Mr Moore mentions that some coppers were on the take. The suggestion that, if we take some of the offences out of police hands and put them in the hands of inspectors, all will be fine is an absolute nonsense.
There is to be a definition of "escort agency". For those people running escort agencies to provide people with escorts when they go out, would it not be a problem to have their agencies defined as brothels when they are not?
Mr Moore: That has been changed.
MR STEVENSON: Mr Moore mentions that that has been changed. If that is the case, then fair enough; that would not be a problem.
There are some unanswered questions about what the situation will be if this Bill is passed. Once prostitution is given the stamp of approval by this Government, will there be government funding? Will it be suggested that prostitution is a reasonable occupation for young girls and young boys to aspire to? If it is a legal occupation, will schools, TAFE colleges and government departments be open to charges of discriminating against this occupation? If someone applies to the CES to put up a job for a prostitute to work in a brothel, will that be knocked back? Although it may seem unlikely that these things would come up, far stranger things have happened after the introduction of laws regarding discrimination in sexual and other matters.
Ms Szuty said something about the Catholic Church raising no strong objections to this reform. Let me read what Patrick Power, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, said in his submission to the ACT Assembly Select Committee on HIV, Illegal Drugs and Prostitution on 13 October. Under the heading "General Comments" he said:
Respect for the dignity of the human person must be the primary consideration in the matter under discussion. Whether or not prostitution is the world's oldest profession, it is a clear case of exploitation of the women (and of the men) involved. Consideration needs to be given to the dignity of the prostitute, of the client and of other people affected by prostitution. Governments have a duty to protect and promote the well-being of their citizens and of the environment in which they live.
In other words, the civil law has a duty to protect individual rights and to promote the common good. Obviously it is not within the power of Governments to eliminate all forms of immoral behaviour but whatever steps are possible should be taken to discourage it and to reduce its impact on the community.
... ... ...
The Catholic Church has always condemned the immorality of prostitution because of the illicit sexual activity, its violence to marriage, and more particularly because of the degradation, exploitation and attack on the dignity of the persons involved.
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