Page 1012 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 26 July 1989
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I think I have summed up fairly well. I urge this amendment on the Assembly. I think that the electors of this town have had some opportunity to assess this issue during the recent campaign. Members might recall, for those of you who are interested in these things, that the opinion polling done, I think, by Channel 10 on this issue showed that a clear majority of Canberrans favoured the abolition of X-rated videos in this town. And I hope - - -
Mr Moore: They didn't know what it meant. They confused it, along with Mr Stefaniak.
MR HUMPHRIES: They knew what it was all about. Do not belittle people in the electorate. They know what they are talking about. They know what people want, and they do not want X-rated videos. I do not think we should either.
DR KINLOCH (5.27): Mr Speaker, I will speak just on the amendment. I have considerable sympathy with both Mr Stefaniak and Mr Humphries. I also have seen in the course of my work many of these videos, and I have a similar objection to almost all that I have seen.
But that is not what is at issue in this Bill. I would again ask that we separate two things. This is an administrative Bill to clear up some matters of marking and labelling, but I would urge Mr Stefaniak and Mr Humphries - and I will certainly join with them if they wish to do this - to set up a select committee to look at these matters or to bring this matter before the house or to consider the whole matter of X-rated videos, especially the most extreme of them, at another time or in another place. But in connection with this Bill, I suggest this amendment is not necessarily appropriate.
MR COLLAERY (5.28): Mr Speaker, it is close to 5.30 and I am going to open a factory in Fyshwick shortly. I trust it is the right type of factory. The thing that surprises me about this - and we saw the sort of run we got with the move-on power issue - is that the first I knew of this proposed amendment was a few minutes ago.
It is a profound issue. It was something we were all assailed with during the election campaign. The Residents Rally developed a policy, during the campaign, on X-rated videos that we would ban them in family-accessible areas. We heard the Chief Minister indicate today with respect to prostitution that there is a planning issue involved in those matters as well - not family planning, as the Deputy Chief Minister thinks - to deal with where you site and what is a family-accessible area.
The Rally believes that the question of a complete ban should await representative government; that is in our policy. The Liberal Party must know that is in our policy. Really, to bring this on at 5 o'clock, after a long sitting day, to raise a major issue like this so perhaps,
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