Page 3406 - Week 08 - Thursday, 23 August 2012
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MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Smyth, there is no point of order. Mr Corbell, you have the floor.
MR CORBELL: Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. They are very sensitive on this point, Madam Assistant Speaker, I must say. Maybe there is some truth in the content that I am raising.
I would simply make the observation that the penalty units provisions that the Assembly has just agreed to in relation to this bill are serious penalties. Think about what a retailer gets for selling a computer game. What? It is $20, $30—maybe, if it is a high-end game, $100. And what is the penalty proposed? It is $5,000—over $5,000. That makes it really clear that it is not worth the retailer’s time or effort to try and break the law and do the wrong thing by selling a computer game that is classified R18+ to a minor. I think that makes it really clear. Obviously, for a corporation the penalty is even higher than that—much higher than that.
So before Mrs Dunne gets on her high horse and tries to get something on the Hansard that she can email across to Jim Wallace to show that she fought the good fight on these matters, she should reflect on this. We look forward to the debate that I am sure will take place in the forthcoming election between those who seek to wind back important reforms that advance equity and equality, tackle discrimination in our community and help protect young people and children in our community in ways which also reflect the right of adults to view material that does not cause harm to others versus those who will seek to wind all of those important issues back and plunge us back into some discriminatory and regressive environment which does not seek to respond to the needs of a modern and contemporary society.
I commend this bill to the Assembly.
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (3.40): I was not intending to speak on this issue, but the quite vile accusations and the vilification that have come from the Attorney-General require a response. Mrs Dunne has moved—on behalf of all opposition members, all of us—very reasonable amendments that say that if you provide R+ classified material and leave it in a position where it can be provided to minors, there should be appropriate penalties. I think that sounds reasonable. We have considered that. That is a reasonable amendment. Mrs Dunne has provided some useful comparisons about penalty points that show that moving from 50 to 100 penalty points is a very reasonable thing to do. She has done that on behalf of the opposition, based on what we think are the right measures to put in place to provide appropriate safeguards for this new piece of legislation.
There is the accusation and the heckling from those opposite that this is somehow related to Mrs Dunne’s religion, that this is motivated by a religious organisation, that she is in lock-step with them. Mr Hargreaves interjected that this is sport. I think that goes to the very point that Mr Corbell was making the other day when he was talking about legislation aimed at religious vilification. We have seen a stark example of it in this place, where an organisation, the Australian Labor Party, and the Attorney-
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