Page 3367 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The next steps, Mr Speaker, are for relevant state governments to amend their legislation, and the ACT will also need to amend some legislation, to allow for the regulation and introduction of an R18+ classification. This will come about following the introduction into the federal parliament later this year of amending legislation to the relevant commonwealth legislation to establish an R18+ classification for use by the Australian Classification Board.
MRS DUNNE: Supplementary question, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: A supplementary, Mrs Dunne.
MRS DUNNE: Minister, are you aware of correspondence from your New South Wales colleague Mr Donnelly MLC and have you viewed the video clips that he compiled with that correspondence? And what is your view of those video clips, particularly, for instance, the one that encourages—
Mr Hargreaves: Point of order, Mr Speaker.
MR SPEAKER: Let me hear the question, Mr Hargreaves.
Mr Hargreaves: Mrs Dunne is asking for an expression of opinion. She has asked the minister for his view.
MR SPEAKER: I will hear the rest of the question and then I will rule on the point of order.
MRS DUNNE: I will rephrase it. Is the government comfortable with the sort of material that encourages the killing of prostitutes with baseball bats and petrol bombs as appropriate for access to anyone, adult or not?
MR CORBELL: I am not familiar with the correspondence Mrs Dunne refers to. It may have been received in my office but I certainly have not viewed it at this time.
In relation to the types of depictions that Mrs Dunne refers to, it is important to remember that the establishment of an R18+ classification does not mean the carte blanche introduction of a range of graphic images or scenarios that would be refused classification under the current scheme. Any material that is refused classification under the current scheme, particularly depictions with that type of linking of violence with sexual gratification and so on, will still, in many instances, be considered to be material that should be refused classification and is prohibited in Australia.
Obviously it will depend on the exact material that Mrs Dunne is referring to. Without seeing that material, I cannot tell her whether that material will fall in or outside the classification regime. But what I can say very clearly is that extremely graphic depictions of violence, particularly violence that is associated with either drug use or sexual gratification, are viewed very seriously by the classification process, and in a very large number of instances are refused classification under the classification processes.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video