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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 5 (Hansard) 16 May) . . Page.. 1329 ..

MS FOLLETT (continuing):

Amongst those conditions is the condition that the Minister is satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so. I put it to the Assembly that it is not in the public interest for paintball to be allowed in our Territory. I believe that as a legislature we should be taking the lead, not just in talking about the need to reduce violence and to reduce violence in entertainment, but in doing something about it. I think the game of paintball is one example where we are actually able to do something about it.

I do not expect, Mr Speaker, that the disallowance of Mr Humphries's regulation would be universally popular. As I have said, I have no doubt that there are those in our community who would like to play paintball in the ACT, but I believe that if we are serious about reducing violence and stopping the development of a culture of violence we will act to disallow this regulation. I commend the motion to the Assembly.

MS HORODNY (10.44): I am very happy to support Ms Follett's motion. A number of us spoke on this issue when it was debated some weeks ago. I looked into this issue then and made several points about it. If anything, I suppose, in the last few weeks we have all had a chance to think yet again and even further and more deeply about violence than possibly people here have before. When we debated this some members tried to make the point that we already have videos and arcade games and they involve a level of violence already, so what is the problem with paintballing; it appears to be a harmless little game. I would like to see the worst of those videos and games banned as well, and I do not make any apology for that. We have seen time and time again that many of the horrors that have been committed in our society have resulted in police finding violent videos such as Child's Play that shows a doll coming to life and murdering people. We have seen a number of other videos and films that have been found in the homes of people who have committed acts of social violence and murders. Obviously, no-one is saying that these videos make people commit these murders or copy a murder as described in these films, but there is a very unhealthy connection between these videos and these unhealthy activities.

Mr Moore said on this issue last time that even our children can distinguish between the games that they play and reality. In fact, Mr Moore, not all children can distinguish between games and reality. It depends on what sort of environment the children and adults have been brought up in. Another violent video or another violent game for a child or adult who is already unhealthy and has violent tendencies can be one video or one arcade game too many. It is the argument of the straw that breaks the camel's back. We have seen that time and time again. Each video, each game, each unhealthy activity - I certainly put paintballing in that category - adds fuel to the fire for an individual who may already be unhealthy, unbalanced or unstable.

It is not just murder that we are talking about here; it is the acts of violence that are perpetrated in our society and in the home each and every day. Right here in Canberra we know that many hundreds of children and women, and some men, suffer from violence that is inflicted on them in the home. In my view, we already have too many tools of violence to enhance this sort of culture. Paintballing is yet another activity that falls into this category.

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