Australia- BANS on hard-core pornography should be extended nationwide to protect white children as well as black, former Nationals leader John Anderson said today.
Mr Anderson, who has been lobbying within Coalition ranks to oppose the influx of pornography in indigenous communities, said X-rated material was damaging children across the nation.
The Howard Government has banned pornography in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory as part of its strategy to combat violence against children. It is also looking at overriding the Northern Territory’s liberal censorship laws, which allow for the sale of explicit pornography.
It is also looking at restricting the supply of similar material out of the ACT, which has a large mail-order business.
“As Noel Pearson put it so beautifully, ask the children if they mind a bit of paternalism when they’re cowering under the table,” Mr Anderson said.
“You can’t restrict that to just Aboriginal children. That plainly happens in non-indigenous communities as well as indigenous communities.”
Mr Anderson said the evidence was overwhelming that there are real and frightening links between porn and sexual violence.
“What you have here is a giant hypocrisy that no one has wanted to tackle.
“The minute it’s questioned, the members who have questioned it are immediately targeted by the X-rated video industry lobby groups.”
Mr Anderson said that by banning pornography flowing into NT Aboriginal communities, the Howard Government had effectively conceded there was a link between watching the material and acting in dysfunctional ways.
“I think what comes out of this is we are now conceding that there’s a problem with this stuff, and frankly I think that all Governments ought to have a long hard look at it again,” he said.
“And we ought to say that civil libertarian arguments are not enough in the face of too many young Australian children’s lives are being deeply scared even permanently and seriously damaged.”
Mr Anderson said that while he is no expert, he had been told by many experts that porn was like drug addiction.
He said NSW Aboriginal communities also wanted the pornography banned, and challenged the Iemma Government to take immediate action.