Government Porn Bans in NT May be Illegal

Jenny Macklin’s refusal to end racially discriminatory bans on the possession of X rated films and other erotic material on Aboriginal communities in the NT, might be tested in the courts. The Eros Association is seeking legal advice on whether the continuing bans on so-called ‘pornography’ represent legitimate ‘special measures’.

Eros CEO, Fiona Patten, said that X18+ films, as well as Category 1 and 2 Restricted publications, were classified by the Minister’s own Commonwealth Classification Board and the Commonwealth’s Classification Act stated unequivocally that these products were suitable for all adult Australians to import, sell, purchase and possess. “If Jenny Macklin wants to keep these racist bans in place, she should amend Australia’s Classification Act to state that Australians of Aboriginal extract can be exempted from it’s provisions. Otherwise the Classification Act is at odds with the legislative measures taken in the NT”, she said.

Ms Patten said that no other country in the world had ever banned the sale of classified erotica to its indigenous people and the Racial Discrimination Act implemented Australia’s international obligations under the Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. “Banning sexual or erotic material from indigenous people is seen as something 19th century Christian missionaries would try”, she said.  “Even prisoners in Australian jails can officially access Category 1 Restricted publications”.

She said that the government had no research whatsoever that showed that sexual abuse in the NT was in any way related to the possession of classified adult material.  “Without any official statistics from court reports or other crime research to back these bans, Ms Macklin is guilty of continuing the patronising and nannying of NT Aborigines that John Howard started. She is saying that they sexually assault each other after reading adult magazines that are freely available in newsagents around the country”.

The original ‘Little Children’ report that initiated the intervention, specifically rejected bans on adult material and called for more education from the federal government about the proper use of adult material.