Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

No, this is a very important issue. This is critical, I would say to the member for Warringah. If, after consultation, it is my view as the minister that these restrictions should be in place, it is not the case that I cannot implement them, no matter the view that is held in the community. If it is my view, following consultation, that it is in the interests of the community that this ban go ahead, then it will. I think it is critical that this is properly understood and that we do not have any misrepresentation of what is being proposed, because I think we are all trying to find a solution to a very difficult issue.

This was not raised by the member for Warringah, but I gather that in the earlier debate on the bill it was suggested that we should consider issues other than just pay TV. That may be so, and it may be useful for the parliament to further consider access to pornography that is delivered by DVD or some other method, but I do think that it should be recognised that this bill is going to further restrict access to R18+ programs through pay television, which was a concern raised, especially by women, during the Little children are sacred consultations. Even though the bill does not deal with every way in which pornography currently may be accessed in these communities, it is another step in the right direction. It is just not correct to say that it is going back on legislated items that the previous government introduced.

The member for Warringah also did not mention that opposition amendment (6) deals with the question of transport of prohibited X-rated and 18+ material. (Extension of time granted) I am not clear on why the opposition opposes this measure, because the way in which it has been constructed in fact mirrors the legislation that the previous government put in place for the transport of alcohol through the main highways of the Northern Territory, where those highways might have to go through prescribed areas. I remind members that if alcohol or, in this case, pornographic material were taken into prescribed communities it plainly would be against the law. The purpose of the amendment we want to make with our bill is just to enable this material to be transported along the highway in the same way that alcohol is under similar rules made by the previous government. It is no more and no less than the legislation which applies for alcohol.

On opposition amendment (7), access to Aboriginal land, we do not agree with the amendment as proposed by the opposition. They would be aware that their position is not supported by those who have the responsibility to make sure that the law is enforced in prescribed Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Once again, I draw the attention of the House, and particularly the attention of the member for Warringah, to the submission made by the Northern Territory Police Association and the Police Federation of Australia to the Senate inquiry into the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Bill 2007. I quote from the letter from Mark Burgess, the Chief Executive Officer of the Police Federation of Australia, to the secretary of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. He said:

Operational police on the ground in the Northern Territory believe that the permit system is a useful tool in policing the communities, particularly in policing alcohol and drug-related crime.

He went on to say:

It would be most unfortunate if by opening up the permit system in the larger public townships and the connecting road corridors as the Government intends—

that is, the previous government—

law enforcement efforts to address the ‘rivers of grog’—

as described in the Little children are sacred report—

the distribution of pornography—

critical to the bill that we are talking about—

and the drug running and petrol sniffing were made more difficult.

I think it would be wise for the opposition to take notice of the police. The police are the people who are actually responsible for dealing with unauthorised access to pornography, alcohol and other drugs, and the police take the view that the permit system can help in dealing with these very difficult issues by keeping the grog runners and other criminals out. They say it is a useful tool, and I think, as with all of the measures in this area, it is critical that we not be ideological; rather, that we take the advice of those who have responsibility for dealing with these very substantial social problems.

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