Helen Coonan (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I will repeat that it is incorrect to state that Commercials Advice had rejected commercials submitted for approval. Commercials Advice, as Senator Bob Brown probably knows, reviews all commercials broadcast on commercial free-to-air and it reviews them for statements of fact. All statements of fact in a commercial must be either substantiated or amended as necessary so that the factual claim is not open to question. As Senator Bob Brown would know, it is not for reasons of censorship but for reasons of law that statements must not be false, misleading or deceptive and in contravention of the Trade Practices Act. In this case, Commercials Advice did seek further advice in relation to two of their commercials as a routine procedure that many advertisements go through before receiving approval from Commercials Advice.