Page 3688 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 9 December 1992
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Mr De Domenico: How many elephants have we got underground?
MR CONNOLLY: Ideas, not elephants, Mr De Domenico. There is a fundamental difference. Madam Speaker, the Labor Party's position on this has not changed. It is the time of the year when the annual debate comes on. We all know that when Mr Stevenson's X-rated video Bill comes forward it is time to start writing the Christmas cards because it is an annual feature on the Assembly calendar. Madam Speaker, we have not changed our mind on this. We have no truck with this material, but we think it is better to keep it in the open and keep it controlled. Any points that opposition members want to make that suggest that we are really not concerned about tightly controlling it are nonsense. It is tightly controlled in this jurisdiction. There have been major raids on premises in Fyshwick in order to monitor the type of material that is being purveyed from those premises. In Sydney or in Melbourne or in States where politicians like to parade about how pure they are on issues of pornography, you can buy as much unclassified and unclassifiable pornography as you want. In the ACT, at least we keep it open and under control.
MR HUMPHRIES (11.21): I am not convinced that the Government has taken a very strong stand in restricting the damage which is done to our community by pornography. We have some lip-service paid by the Government to the need for there to be a stronger community attitude against this kind of perversion, this kind of degradation of women and so on; but I have not seen any evidence of that at all on the part of this Government - none whatsoever - and I am not convinced that it is serious about it. Let us not forget, by the way, that this Government accepted a very considerable donation from the X-rated video industry at the time of the 1989 ACT election, so I would not expect to find that this is a government which is particularly keen to drive home any message about - - -
Mr Kaine: They are suddenly all engrossed in their notes. None of them will even look up.
MR HUMPHRIES: Yes. They are suddenly concerned to make sure that there is some restriction on the damage done to the ACT community, to children and to women, by the existence in this community of this kind of material. Madam Speaker, I remain ashamed that the ACT remains a centre of trade in this kind of material. We quite deservedly attract the title "the porn capital of Australia", and I know that I speak for many people, including members of the Australian Labor Party, possibly even members of this Government sitting opposite who do not really believe in their heart of hearts that this is a very desirable thing to be happening in the ACT.
The fact of life is that this Government, the Australian Labor Party of the ACT, is seriously out of line with all its colleagues in other States. I do not know of a single Labor Party in government or opposition anywhere else in the country that would take the position you are taking here. Almost every other ALP government, either presently in place or formerly in place, has banned X-rated videos in their jurisdiction. They have actually done that.
The argument we have heard in the last few months, repeatedly, about how we have to be in line with other States, about how we have to be in line with New South Wales and Victoria, does not seem to wash when it comes to this sort of issue. Oh, no, forget about other States; we are the one enlightened source of knowledge on this matter. We will stick to our little haven where X-rated videos
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