Ms GAMBARO (12:37 PM) —I commend the Attorney-General on bringing the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment Bill (No. 2) 1999 to the attention of the House. I commend also the member for Dawson, who has been actively involved since March of last year in highlighting the proposed NVE classification and ensuring that other members of the parliament were fully informed of what the words `non-violent erotica' actually meant. I realise that she left off before finishing her speech, and I will speak about the Eros Foundation as well.

I support the legislation before us. It is a cooperative effort between the Commonwealth and the states and territories to ensure that we have the proper classification of publications, films and computer games. It is not easy, these days, to live in a world where access to the Internet, videos and other forms of interactive technology occurs all the time. Being a parent of two children, I am ever conscious of my role in providing the relevant moral standards for them; I am conscious also of my role as a legislator to ensure that children of other parents in Australia also are protected.

I was very pleased when the member for Dawson highlighted the non-violent erotica and brought it to my attention. I am not ashamed to say that I was one of those people who attended the private screening that she organised. I saw enough in about one minute to realise that there was nothing soft, erotic, artistic or however one wants to describe it in those films. They were hard-core pornographic images and they depicted violence. They deserved to be classified in a much stronger category, as they are today in an X rating.

The Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 provides for the enforcement of classification decisions made under the act. It established the Classification Board and the Classification Review Board and provided the procedures for the classification of material. State and territory enforcement legislation complements federal legislation by dealing with offences relating to the exhibition, sale or hire of publications, films and computer games, both classified and unclassified, in the respective jurisdictions. The amendments to the act laid out in the bill before us today are very contentious—there is no doubt about that—and are clearly warranted. Previous speakers have outlined a number of situations. The member for Moreton and the member for Dawson have provided their own personal perspectives on a number of areas, and I will provide mine as well.

Other speakers have correctly indicated that the content of films, publications and computer games available in our society needs to be carefully and thoughtfully monitored. They are not issues that anyone should take lightly. Just the other day, my children went to take out an M-rated video from the local video store. That was clearly a bit contentious as they are 13 and 11 years of age, and I refused to let them view it. The idea that pornographic videos could be displayed in a video store is clearly something that I cannot digest, and I am very pleased that they have been given an X category.

The pornography industry is a growing industry. The member for Dawson highlighted some of the areas, the issues and the politics that it has been involved in. The industry has clearly made politics into an art form. I have been written to on many occasions about the number of people in my marginal electorate on its mailing list. I think that anyone with an issue or who is a card-carrying member of a cause wants to target a marginal electorate. There is no doubt that many Australians do avail themselves of the mail-out facilities of the pornography industry, and that is entirely up to them; they can do that in the privacy of their home. But to have these sorts of films being displayed in public places where children can see them is an entirely different matter, and I am very pleased that that classification was strengthened to an X rating.

Under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment Bill (No. 2) 1999, the content of material under the X category for films and videos will be restricted to prevent certain overly explicit and unacceptable material being available in this form. Tighter guidelines for the X category remove material that would be considered offensive by Australians—things such as the depiction of sexual violence and the portrayal of people over the age of 18 as minors. The member for Moreton spoke about films promoting 14-year-olds and involving pornographic scenes.

There is no doubt that there are many people of unsound mind who do watch these videos and who do think it is the norm to behave in such a way. It saddens me that my electorate is involved in probably some of the worst cases of human depravity. Recently, the whole nation saw the gunman Nigel Parodi and the terrible devastation that saw three police officers seriously wounded. I am not saying that the actions of that particular individual were caused solely by watching pornographic videos, but he was in possession of a huge number of violent videos—and the police informed me of the types of videos that he was watching.

Clearly, one has to ask: does watching that sort of pornographic and violent material lead you to go over the edge slightly? I can only go by some of the evidence that has been given to us, particularly from European countries. There have been many cases where young children have been watching videos and playing computer games that have been highly violent, that have led to their being induced almost into a comatose state by the trauma they have seen in these videos. This has led to their hospitalisation for various mental illnesses that have been inflicted. That is the sort of effect that they have on small children. So we do have a responsibility to ensure that children are not able to see these violent and sexually explicit images.

I commend the work that has been done to ensure that the states and territories have had cooperation and that they have been responsible for determining which materials can be sold or hired in their region. I know that all governments give careful consideration to the content of material that is made available to their constituents. As elected representatives, we are charged with that responsibility. We cannot just walk away from it. We cannot say, `It's too hard; I don't want to deal with it; it's too contentious.' We have to legislate on these extremely difficult matters.

Not everyone is going to agree with the stand that some of us have taken here. Not everyone is going to enjoy the decision. But while Australian governments have traditionally held the view that adults in our society have the right to choose individually what they want to read or watch, the government also has a responsibility to provide protection from material that encourages sexual violence or other harmful acts. Some days, it seems that newspapers are brimming with stories about violent and sexual acts on women, children and men. In the minds of some people reality does become confused. Certain people sometimes do not know the difference between what is make-believe and what is not make-believe. We see those images.

The member for Moreton spoke about what is the norm. He spoke about radio stations and he mentioned Triple J. I have had constituents write to me about very disturbing instances, and some of them have involved public broadcasters. One particular episode comes to mind which occurred at about the time that the ABC was looking for increased funding. The Friends of the ABC came to visit me, looking for increased funding and fighting for their cause. I had received numerous letters from constituents in my electorate about a program that was screened on the ABC in which a number of transsexuals came on stage wearing G-strings which had chocolate penises attached to the end of them. Another group of transvestites came on stage and started to eat the chocolate penises. I cannot tell you the revulsion that I felt after reading these letters. One does not expect to turn on the ABC and see such images before one. I brought it to the attention of the communications minister at the time.

I feel that broadcasters do have a responsibility to ensure that this type of grubby material is not out there in the public forum. I commend whatever actions are taken to ensure that that does not happen. Also, magazines and the media generally have a role to play. I have a teenage daughter who reads Girlfriend magazine. I thought it was quite a harmless magazine for teenage girls, but some of the articles leave me quite shocked when they deal with sexual activity and what is the norm, and with different types of sexual practices. One has to question their role and responsibility as well.

More and more Australians are taking up new forms of technology such as the Internet, email and mobile phones. There are ever present dangers with the Internet as well. One should not ignore those. The so-called chat lines and chat rooms have been popular places in which sex offenders can lure new victims. With these new technologies, there will always be challenges. I face them every day in my electorate. Already, the issue of Internet regulation has resulted in widespread public debate. The Internet is really hard to regulate in practice because there is a lack of centralised control. The worldwide nature of the Web ensures that there are difficulties in determining the source of pornographic and other unacceptable material. These are issues that we as a society are continuing to grapple with. I am pleased that many concerned citizens are raising these issues in the public arena.

Further amendments in the bill deal with issues regarding those who may appeal classification decisions made by the Classification Board. Previously, the definition of `persons aggrieved by the decision' did not include members of the general public who were offended by certain material, so it is good to see that that has been included. Those wishing to apply for review had to have a special connection to the offending material. This meant that a great majority of the population were excluded from having their views about the content of material heard. Fortunately, the bill alters the situation so that members of the public, who should have a say regarding all types of material available in our society, can do so.

Computer games are another area for discussion. Whilst they are mostly marketed to children, they can often have content that can only be described as suitable for adults, so as a parent one has to be ever vigilant of the types of computer games one thinks are suitable for children. Where add-ons or extra sections are added to the original computer game, these add-ons must also be reviewed by the board. Makers of these computer games may also be required to provide a video showing the content of the game to the Classification Board. Previously it has been difficult for a game to be displayed in full for the purposes of classification, so this is a good thing.

The director of the Classification Board has also been given more powers to determine how classified material may be displayed. For example, the board may instruct material to be wrapped in plastic or some other kind of concealing material. The board can also determine how the classification markings are to be displayed on new items such as computer game add-ons. While new technologies and the challenges for classification are enormous, it is important that these amendments bring into effect the power for the board to deal with each development. There are many other amendments, mainly of a technical nature, contained in this bill that assist the classifiers in their task of monitoring and classifying material.

The member for Dawson previously spoke about the Eros Foundation. They have a very self-interested role in all of this. They are interested in expanding their empire and there is no doubt that the best way to do that is to get into the retail outlets. I commend the action that has been taken by the Attorney-General that will stop them from doing this. I was also one of the members of parliament to receive that dreadful publication Hypocrites with its reference to the Catholic Church. I have to say that it was a particularly distasteful and unbalanced representation of the clergy. I know that there have been incidents in the clergy but to say that this represents the view of all of the churches is absolutely absurd. I commend the Attorney-General for the particular action that he has taken and I look forward to working in this area and to seeing the practical outcomes of these amendments.