57/07 Thursday 10 May 2007

Labor must stop playing politics with the protection of our children

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan today called on the Labor Party to stop playing politics with the protection of Australian children.

Opposition Shadow Attorney, Senator Joe Ludwig has put forward a Private Members Bill claiming to remedy a non-existent loop-hole in Commonwealth Law relating to the transmission of child pornography through the postal system.

“I must say from the outset, in the entire three years I have held this portfolio, Senator Ludwig has never once raised this issue with me nor sought a briefing on any issue to do with the protection of children.

“I could be cynical and say that Senator Ludwig’s Private Members Bill smacks of political posturing ahead of this year’s election. Protecting our children is the responsibility of every Australian and must be above politics.

“I reject any suggestion that the distribution of child pornography is legal through the Australian postal system. The Commonwealth Criminal Code already contains a comprehensive range of offences relating to postal services and the Internet and Senator Ludwig’s claims are false.

“In particular, Section 471.12 of the Code makes it an offence for a person to use the postal service in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being offensive and without a doubt, child pornography fits within this prohibition which is cast as widely as possible to ensure the maximum reach of the law.

There are five offences under the Commonwealth Criminal Code that deal comprehensively with the distribution of child pornography and child abuse material as well as a prohibition on the importation of child pornography and child abuse material in the Customs Act 1901.

In addition, child pornography is prohibited under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, which regulates online services, and it is refused classification (i.e. banned) under the National Classification Code.

“The Howard Government has long recognised the importance of protecting families and children from exploitation and illegal content, both in print and electronic forms.

“I also remind the community that over seven years ago, the Howard Government established the Online Content Scheme, which requires Internet service providers and hosts to take down offensive and criminal material from their systems, and provides significant penalties including criminal penalties, for any failure to do so.

“Labor voted against this legislation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate so their latent support for the Government’s tough stance on child protection is seven years overdue.

“If Labor has now decided to take the protection of children seriously, then I call on them to support the Government’s Communications Legislation Amendment (Content Services) Bill which was introduced into the House of Representatives this morning.

“If Senator Ludwig is genuine this, or any issue regarding the protection of children, my door is open for him to be properly briefed and discuss the matter in detail.

“The Howard Government has done, and will continue to do everything necessary to protect our children – through legislation, education, regulation and technology.

“In fact, with the new $116.6 million Protecting Australian Families Online program where every family will be entitled to a free Internet filter for their home computer, Australia is a world leader in this field.

“Senator Ludwig is on notice - I regard the protection of children to be above political game-playing and I will wait and see if he takes up my offer of a briefing.”

Media Contact: Fiona Telford - 02 6277 7480