Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

Schedule 2 of the bill introduces a more streamlined process for classifying material. It does not allow industry to make classification decisions, as I have said before. Schedule 2 does nothing more than allow industry to make recommendations to the board. The purpose of this proposal is to reduce the regulatory burden on industry.

I would like to address some of the issues that Senator Fielding raised during his second reading contribution. I do not know if you watched the series Robin Hood. I certainly did—I thought it was terrific—but I have not seen it as a box set. The content of what is shown on television and what you purchase in a box set of the Robin Hood series, I am advised, may differ. That will explain why there are differences. It acknowledges that there are two different streams of approval and that the content does change, though not hugely. I think Maid Marian on Robin Hood was rather voluptuous, but she might have looked a bit more voluptuous, shall we say, on the box set. It is a shame she died; I was very sad about that part. This difference might explain why there will be a different classification for the box set than for the television series.

The other important reason why the government is moving this way in the classification of box sets is that a key characteristic of a television series is that episodes are generally fairly homogenous in impact, as the series as a whole is targeted to a particular consumer group and is consistent in its treatment of classifiable elements across long running times. If the Classification Board watched all of Robin Hood, it would take an enormous amount of time. I think you would agree that they would have a wonderful time doing it—and that is great—but it would take an enormous amount of time. This is a sensible amendment that says, ‘We will get advice from industry about where the level of classification should be.’ The board continue to hold the ultimate classification tool; it is still their classification. But, in terms of box sets of material that has already been on TV in Australia—this is not new material—I think this is a sensible amendment that will waste less time and money, to be quite frank. The ultimate outcome will be that the community will be protected into the future and be happy to buy a box set of whatever they want—including Robin Hood.