Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I oppose schedule 2 in the following terms:

(9)    Schedule 2, page 15 (line 2) to page 16 (line 22), Schedule to be opposed.

This relates to schedule 2 of the bill, which is about the transportation of prohibited material. This is a matter of nuance. We understand what the clear intent is: to make some clear consistency in terms of alcohol. But we want to ensure we are sending a consistent signal in the circumstances where pornography may occur in communities. We accept that it is on the grey end of the nuance but we thought long and hard about this. We are not accepting that a defence needs to be provided in the same way as for alcohol, because of the nature of the way pornography is transported. It may go in the post or by courier. We believe that that could provide a potential defence for anybody who has it on their person but is carrying it in such a way that it could be for someone else’s consumption.

Knowing the prescribed areas as I do—and no doubt as those in government do—that there could be circumstances under which you would say, ‘I am just carrying this pornography via Kintore to Perth,’ or some other place is a little far-fetched. It could create a defence when there is clearly an offence. I think a defence exists if you are a postal worker, but to take pornography to a place outside a prescribed area by necessarily driving through a prescribed area—