By Leon Harrison
PERTH — A draconian new censorship bill, which has already been passed by the WA Legislative Assembly, is almost certain to become law, given the Court government's majority in both houses.
Perth lawyer Barry Ebedes said the prohibitive aspects of the bill were extraordinarily complex and extremely confusing. He compared it to legislation in the USA prior to 1969 and South Africa between 1967 and 1996.
The bill was introduced over 12 months ago by Cheryl Edwards, then attorney general, now minister for community development and the family. The bill makes it an offence to be in possession of a range of material including magazines, books, videos or computer games that could be labelled "indecent" or "obscene" by a person rather broadly described as "a reasonable adult".
As well, the bill sets out a broad range of offences involving the display, sale, possession, visibility and storage of material deemed "offensive". Those found guilty would be liable for a $5000 fine or six months' jail.
The minister will be able to refuse classification, banning a publication if he/she determines that possession of an article or photograph is contrary to the "public good".
Lawyers have warned that the bill could create a variety of problems for artists, theatres, cinemas, galleries, school teachers and academics as well as health agencies like the WA AIDS Council.
Ebedes said the legislation could only be applied subjectively because the decision on what is contrary to the public good can be made by the person viewing the material. "I am yet to find anyone who can define pornography", he said.
If the minister is a Christian fundamentalist — as Edwards is — or of some other conservative hue, the idea of an objective standard becomes a farce.
Perth MLA Diana Warnock has also criticised the bill, saying, "If ever a regime should arise which has even more conservative views than the current government, things could get much worse". She continued: "While there is a reasonable censorship committee, things could be fine, but a future committee may adopt more aggressive policies if they are pursued by pressure groups like the Australian Family Association and Christian fundamentalists."
Warnock fails to understand that censorship of any kind makes governments and religious groups the moral arbiters of what people read or view and thus destroys free speech.
Peter Hennessy, spokesperson for WA's largest chain of adult product stores, Barbarellas, said one of the worst aspects of the legislation was that if material was seized by police or "authorised persons", the person from whom it was taken had to prove that the material should be returned. "If people took this legislation and used it to its full extent, we could be living in a police state tomorrow."