Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

A particular concern in respect of this tragedy, in my view—and in the view of those who have read many of the reports or who have been associated with the communities—is the very young age of some of the offenders. That is a fundamental concern for me. I wonder how people thought that this behaviour could be normal—that children of 11 and 12 years of age could be perpetrators. It is a difficult area to even understand, let alone talk about, but some of the experts say that the use of pornography grooms young people—that, if they are exposed to explicit pornography, it is perhaps seen as a function of a normal physical relationship. If young people see that as being the norm—as something people do all the time—it is a great problem.

There has been much documentation on the impact of pornography on young people. As Senator Crossin pointed out, it is not so much that it is explicit pornography but the fact that it is available to such young people. We have laws in this country that prohibit young people from accessing pornography and laws that prohibit the showing of pornography to them. The laws in respect of protecting people from pornography are often related to age. These circumstances are no different. I think the nature of the isolation of the communities and the length of time that people in some of these communities are exposed to television put them at an even higher risk. That is why removing pornography is a fundamental part of the intervention. Pornography is a very negative aspect of their lives and, as with alcohol, we need to remove pornography whilst we provide some normalisation to the community.