20. You can’t put a vagina on a female sculpture
At least not in Queensland. A nude female sculpture (with a vagina) at a beach side park in Bribie Island had Moreton Bay Regional Council mayor Allan Sutherland pink with embarrassment. The council removed the statue because it was not their job to ‘deliberately go out and offend people.’
19. Adult Shop loses R18+ appeal
Adult Shop lost a lengthy legal battle to have an X18+ rating overturned for the adult film Viva Erotica. Adult Shop argued since 2006 that the OFLC (now ACB) should have classified the film R18+ because community standards have changed and most reasonable adults are no longer offended by depictions of actual sex, but the Federal Court dismissed their appeal, stating the guidelines were still representative of current community standards.
18. Gay Jesus a crime (says the AFA)
The Australian Family Association said the creators of Corpus Christi, a play depicting Jesus as a gay man, have committed “a big enough crime” by neglecting to treat Christianity and Christian believers with more sensitivity.
17. Van that ad somebody!
Van Heusen underwear ads were not allowed to run on the rear end of Brisbane City Council buses after they were deemed too racy. The same ads were printed on public transport in other capital cities with no problems.
16. Eros aligns with Christian Lobby against R18+ games
Australian sex lobby group, Eros, announced they agreed with the Australian Christian Lobby’s stance that the Government should abandon plans to consult the public on whether to introduce an R18+ games classification. Eros said there was too much violence ‘out there’. What Eros forgot was that the R18+ games debate isn’t about whether more violence or sex should be allowed in games, it’s about whether adults should be allowed to choose what media they consume without censorship.
15. Labor backbencher Graham Perrett is the Member for Porn
It wasn’t so much that Salt Shakers were outraged Labor MP Graham Perrett had written an erotic novel that warranted inclusion in this list, it was the fact The Daily Telegraph included a giant image labeling Perrett the Honourable Member for Porn. As you might recall, Salt Shakers were opposed because they believe leaders of the nation should not be encouraging reading that contains ‘extremely graphic’ and ’sexual’ material.
14. Swallow this
A pamphlet that advised readers of some precautions to take if experimenting with drugs was declared a drug taking manual by some parents. NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher pulled the leaflet from circulation.
13. Salo stays banned
A submission to the Classification Board to have a Criterion Special Edition of Salo released on DVD was turned down. It remains banned in Australia despite being available in New Zealand.
12. McMenamin and Wikipedia nasties
McMenamin didn’t spend her entire year accusing those opposed to Internet Censorship of advocating child pornography. In September she chucked a massive stink over ‘sexualized’ images on Wikipedia. She said that while she supported sex education, displaying sexualised images in a freely available online encyclopaedia ‘crosses the line’. Unfortunately for Bernadette, Wikipedia doesn’t exist to cater to individual morals or ‘lines’, it’s for sharing knowledge.
11. More adult films banned
Even in 2008 adult movies were still refused classification. Australian Rosie Road Trips #2 and Manplay 37 were just two of the recent adult titles to be banned by Australian censors. Unfortunately, there was more.
10. Not wicked, obscene!
A Brisbane mother was up in arms about suggestive artwork painted on Wicked Camper Vans. QLD Premier Anna Bligh was also outraged and lodged a complaint with the ASB (after the QLD police and Attorney-General presumably told her to get nicked). Wicked complied with the board’s request to remove the artwork.
9. Teachers: What you do in your own time is our business
Sydney primary school teacher Lynne Tziolaswas was given the boot after some parents complained about an article in Cleo magazine where Tziolaswas is photographed naked and discusses the bedroom habits of her and her husband. ‘It’s definitely an overstepping of teaching ethics’ said one parent.
8. Would you like a free condom with that?
Angela Conway from the Australian Family Association said a promotion where free condoms were given out with the purchase of Vodka Cruisers was promoting a “booze-drenched culture” among young people and it and it encouraged people to “get caught up in having casual sex with little consideration of the consequences.” Alco Dwarf also copped it in 2008.
7. High rise paedophile fear
Parents of students at Wynnum’s Guardian Angels Primary School in Brisbane stopped a high rise development from being built near the school over fears that paedophiles would have a bird’s eye view of their children. In response, Brisbane City Council reduced the buildings height from eight storeys to five storeys. The same event played out a week later at building development near a school on Brisbane’s north side.
6. Little Miss Outraged
The Australian Childhood Foundation demanded retail fashion chain Jay Jays withdraw their line of Little Losers clothing, claiming they sent the wrong message to impressionable tweens and teens. Australian Women Online also called for Jay Jays to remove the clothes. Jay Jays decided to remove the shirts from their stores window displays and not to restock shirts that carry alcohol-related messages or sexual innuendos.
5. Film shorts banned at Melbourne Queer Film Festival
The Melbourne Queer Film Festival couldn’t screen their special presentation of The Erotic Films of Peter de Rome because the package of shorts (currently classified X18+ in Australia) was denied exemption from classification — even though they would have been shown to adults only.
4. Doh!
The New South Wales Supreme Court ruled that a fictional cartoon character was a ‘person’ within the meaning of the relevant state and commonwealth laws. Has the judge ever watched an episode of The Simpsons.
3. Longer Lasting Censored
A.M.I had family groups fuming and parents foaming all because of a giant yellow billboard that said Want Longer Lasting Sex.
Likely a direct result of the Henson controversy, the Advertising Standards Bureau found the billboard not only sexualised children, but was confronting to a large section of the community. They ordered its removal. A.M.I responded with a new ad reading Want Longer Lasting Censored. It generated nearly equal outrage.
2. Five games banned
2008 set a new record for Australia, with five notable video games banned. The damage: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Fallout 3, ShellShock 2: Blood Trails, and Dark Sector. Grand Theft Auto IV was edited for Australian audiences prior to being released.
1. Bill Henson and the case of the missing pornography
When does nudity automatically become sexual?
Complaints from Hetty Johnston over artist Bill Henson’s naked photographs of a teenage girl created possibly the biggest moral panic Australia has seen in decades.
Police raided art galleries, the media went on a witch hunt and politicians lined up to express their disgust, including Kevin Rudd.
The ACB promptly classified the photographs as PG, but it was too late. Henson’s image had been tarnished and for what.
Two high profile cases were not included in this list as they are still ongoing: Senator Conroy’s fight for Internet censorship and the case involving Chris Illingworth.
29 comments
Heath says:
Dec 28, 2008
The link in #12 “McMenamin and Wikipedia nasties” transfers to the article about the drug leaflet.
Nikki J says:
Dec 28, 2008
Definitely shows just how much happened in 2008 and how crazy Australia has become in such a short year. Great list.
Mike says:
Dec 28, 2008
@Heath: Thanks mate. Corrected.
@Nikki J: It certainly does. I’m hoping next year I can’t even make a top 10.
Syd Walker says:
Dec 28, 2008
I hate to be a bore, but IMHO this is the worst cases of (effective) censorship in 2008. I’ll provide the ‘moral outrage’.
See Somebody Think of the Children!
Beat that for spin. Turning 1:158 into >2:1 is no mean feat. How do they do it? Why do we let ‘em?
Jarrod says:
Dec 28, 2008
this has definetly been a terrible year for censorship/moral panic. just ‘looking’ through some of the banned films from 11, some of that is fairly tame stuff. just shows how out of touch our censorship scheme is. one can only hope that next year will be better.
Ell says:
Dec 28, 2008
Sometimes I just want to run away.
If anyone ever feels the desire to read about how our lunatic laws are applied are recommend reading at Refused Classification — http://www.refused-classification.com/X18+_FilmWhitemen.htm#WHITE%20MEN%20CAN%27T%20IRON…ON%20BUTT%20ROW
Know that the pursuit of redress to a classification at the Classification Review Board would have cost at minimum $8000.00 plus legal fees – possibly more than the cost to make the film itself. The judgement isn’t remarkable and the flick is probably no great shakes either but it quite nicely sums up the kind of madness that goes on here.
Oh please let some kind of sanity prevail in 2009.
Icaria says:
Dec 29, 2008
Well that was depressing.
Also infuriating. The idiocy and arrogance exercised by those with power – it’s a far more potent incitement to violence and antisocial attitudes than any of the content they’re ‘protecting’ us from.
Beyond The Fringe » Blog Archive » Best of the best 2008 lists says:
Dec 29, 2008
[...] Somebody think of the children takes the cake with a list of the 20 worst censorship outrages in Australia in 2008. [...]
Joyce says:
Dec 29, 2008
After reading the article linked in #7, I think burquas for children is a fantastic idea.
Phend says:
Dec 29, 2008
The F.E.A.R ban was apparently overturned on appeal and has now been classified as MA15+:
http://blogs.theage.com.au/screenplay/archives//011292.html
Even so, that still leaves us with 4 too many games refused classification this year.
Matthew says:
Dec 29, 2008
Wow, that’s the first time I’d heard about pedophiles buying up property in high rise complexes just to spy on school kids. Oh wait, it has absolutely no basis in reality. The absurdity of this situation, a local council changing building codes to solve a problem that did not exist or have any credible evidence, is absolutely amazing. Think about it for a minute. Jesus Christ, what has the world come to? Yes, I agree, burquas for all children, and fucking lobotomies for the parents of children who attend Guardian Angels Primary School.
Tateru Nino says:
Dec 29, 2008
Fallout 3 was modified slightly worldwide (apparently it didn’t pass muster in Japan, either) though the same drug references passed the OFLC for Fallout 1 and 2. It passed on resubmission.
F.E.A.R. II was also resubmitted and passed, but I’m not sure if it was modified.
We definitely need an R classification for games.
Grant says:
Dec 29, 2008
At heart Australia is still a very prudish and emotionally immature nation. We’ve never been able to shake ourselves of that uniquely Australian strain of puritanical ‘wowserism’. It’s a country that’s positively schizophrenic – split down the middle between progressives and reactionaries. It’s baffling.
Reading this list I truly despair. My longing to return home diminishes when I know that upon return I’ll soon confront the same fucktards with their reflexive fear of absolutely anything their feeble intellects cannot grasp. These are the people who dominate the public discourse, and for whom the politicians of Australia (almost unanimously bereft of the talent and vision that Australia sorely needs) have developed an almost Pavlovian response – inventing outrage on many occasions when none exists.
As someone said once (and I’m an Australian) – Australia a first rate country inhabited by 2nd rate people.
HTA says:
Dec 30, 2008
I think reading this blog may be negatively affecting my health. Some of these things… are so absurd… I am not sure whether to laugh or cry.
Incidentally, I just encountered this:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1074933
on slashdot. An interesting article on a case in the US similar to the cartoon-porn one which recently occurred in Australia. I found many of the comments quite inciteful; worth a read.
Kyle says:
Dec 30, 2008
Slightly funny, but even more depressing..
High rise building being shortened for that irrational reason. It’s just so silly.
Overall I don’t believe Australia is prudish, it’s just those very vocal and loud wowsers. Also those who are in power are either also wowsers, are easily persuaded or have no backbone.
As for number 9, teachers need to be a role model for students and should not be engaging in behavior publicly that is Unacceptable. And that is unacceptable deemed by rational thinkers not wowsers. Being photographed naked and discussing the bedroom habits in a magazine for adults is acceptable imo.
As for the games I’m pretty FEAR 2 was classified as MA15+ unedited, after it was classified RC and reclassified after appeal.
James says:
Dec 30, 2008
I’m still baffled by the Bill Henson fiasco. I honestly do not see anything wrong with general nudity, no matter the age of the subject.
If people see something sexual in the images, then they have some issues, not everyone else.
I still remember being naked on the beach as a youngster, and many others were also, no-one thought anything of it. What’s changed in society, where nudity is something terrible?
The banning of pornography is just ridiculous. Adults should be able to watch this without someone else telling them it’s not ok. What we do as adults in our home is our business, not the governments.
Icaria says:
Dec 30, 2008
Haha, James, perhaps you should have added an extra newline between your two points; It reads as going straight from child nudity to adults being able to view pornography. :p
Anyway, it’s beyond my comprehension also. During the early 90′s, my parents – amongst many others – were members of the local nudist club and I wasn’t the only child who got dragged along on the weekends. Never did you hear any implications of there being anything sexual about it, let alone inappropriately sexual. If that club still exists, I hate to think of the kind of heat the place has come under due to the new social self-consciousness accompanying the exposure of a very old issue.
SkipEU says:
Dec 31, 2008
Maybe you could soon add “prohibited topless sunbathing” on that list. Australia is obviously obsessed with their “protection of children”.
Joyce says:
Dec 31, 2008
An interesting research paper I’ve been reading called “Faking It” has a section titled “Girls: Too sexy, Too soon” on the topic of young girls’ magazines. Excerpts:
“Magazines for girls as young as five copy the teen and adult versions. The three most popualr are Barbie Magazine (for 5 to 12 years), Total Girl (8 to 11 years), and Disney Girl (6 to 13 years).”
… (later on about the same set) …
“Celebrity and being “hot” take centre stage. Little girls are shown how to look and behave like pop stars – including how to imitate “sexy” dance moves.
Rush and La Nauze did a content analysis of a sample edition of Barbie Magazine, Total Girla dn Disney Girl. It showed that about 50% of the content of hte last two was sexualising material. For Barbie Magazine it was 74%.”
Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, a part also mention paedophiles. Summarised: “[some] men convicted of child abuse refuse to call themselves paedophiles” because the girls as young as 6 are already dressing and acting like sexualised creatures.
The rest of the research paper is good as well, though this part’s most relevant to all the child pornography panic: If you don’t want paedophiles after your children, stop dressing them like skanks (“bralettes & g-strings featuring cherries and the words “eye candy” and “wink wink” are designed for little girls as young as 3″).
Glenn Petrie says:
Dec 31, 2008
“2008 set a new record for Australia, with five notable video games banned.”
I don’t think that this is right. A record was already set in 2004, where five games were also banned. This include Shellshock: Nam ’67, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, Singles: Flirt Up Your Life, The Punisher, and one other game that I can’t think of. Only The Punisher was awarded MA15+ later when an edited version was submitted.
There is a pattern here. If a R18+ rating still hasn’t been introduced, I am expecting five other games banned in 2012.
Kerry says:
Jan 1, 2009
When younger I spent too long in the company of religious types. What did I learn?
1. The most powerful force the preacher has is guilt – make a person feel guilty and you can then control them.
2. There tends to be more mental illness in congregations than in the general population.
3. Be very wary of those preachers who make the most noise about deviants in the community.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10335782
little green chicken says:
Jan 3, 2009
I am so disgusted and ashamed at the state of my country. The people who are supposed to be representing our interests are only spewing the expected, comfortable, ignorant propaganda of those ugly, reactionary types that litter our society. These people do not want to see the world as it is and are highly threatened by those who question their narrow set of ideals, as to the way the world, life and other people should be. One of these people is clearly our new prime minister Kevin Rudd and the attorney general. They are dull-minded, duplicitous men, who thrust internet censorship up our backsides as a side-note AFTER winning the election with barely a mention of this ridiculous plan (which has been UNIVERSALLY panned by experts).
A teenager, if not a child these days can understand why an internet filter is a terrible, terrible, IDIODIC thing to try and implement.(especially in a time of economic downturn). Not to mention the sperm in the eye of democracy! I THOUGHT WE WERE AT “WAR” WITH THIS SHIT?????
Those who wish to keep their office feel they must pander to those ideals, OR are simply (and more likely) the very embodiment of those ideals they strive to defend in the name of the “Australian people”. Essentially, they cut out the middle man, which is reason and maturity. We must be able to see the difference between art and porno, and rate accordingly. We must NOT disallow grown adults from viewing the creations of their fellow human beings, no matter how ugly or scary.
This brings me to a point that never seems to be argued, or even mentioned regarding censorship; Australian adults are not allowed to play games, or see movies, or learn certain information(i.e wikipedia censorship) BUT it is FINE and GREAT for our young guys to get sent to war with a random country essentially, to DIE and be MAIMED. But fucked if they can watch a porno, or play a fucking video game where you can blow a game character’s head off, or even see a real woman’s vagina in a porno mag…THAT’S RIGHT AUSTRALIA…V-A-G-I-N-A! Let’s drop this Victorian nonsense, we’re not in the colonies anymore!
And would the pro censorship lot PLEASE stop talking about children, they have NOTHING to do with this issue whatsoever. All we ask is to be allowed to view adult content as it stands, as the rest of the world sees fit to create it.
To the reactionaries whose fear and ignorance have degraded and pissed on democracy and freedom in Australia, your time of power is coming to an end…this is one thing that is inevitable, as hopeless as the situation seems to normal people right now. The kind of person that thinks the internet is a bad idea (I swear on my life that I met an Australian, middle class woman who actually said the internet was a bad idea…for serious) simply illuminates the backwards and arbitrary nature of their own moral “lines”. Do not penalize the ideals this country was founded on just to impose repressed, muddled notions of indecency on the rest of the population. It is only because of the internet that we have any freedom of speech and free media at all.
It is only because of the internet we can trade effectively ANYTHING we want, all around the world. Most importantly, it is the only place we can hear the voices of the world, see and hear and read what is going on, the terrible and beautiful and amazing things that humans do and create.
There is anger and violence and ignorance spreading like a plague in Australia. A beer swilling, woman hating, ugly minded, nasty, tempermental slob, who goes out to pubs and clubs looking for fights, instead of fun. A man who is disgustingly arrogant and opportunistic, not to mention ignorant and small minded. This man is many men in our land. This man is caused by censorship and let me tell you how. Lack of culture. Lack of curiosity about the world. Dull minded spouting of whatever opinion is the most acceptable. Making strong assumptions about subjects, without any knowledge, or care for knowledge about said subject.
Without a sense of the value of variation in opinion, people fall behind, they give up on dignity and pride and creativity. Take away scary “adult” influences, but we all still must live in a world that is filled with them. We have the compulsion to make media that pushes our own boundaries because that is what surrounds us and we want to make sense of it.
Tell me how people are supposed to make sense of life, when the least talked about parts are not even allowed to be viewed remotely in the form of a movie, or a book. How are supposed to see what we are, who we are?
Australian people, we are lost. Adrift in a sea of misinformation, but unable to see, hear or speak of it. We have become disconnected, apathetic and now the minority opinion rules. The only thing that these people understand is popular opinion. So make your outrage at censorship public knowledge, DO NOT stand for those who try to shut you down, they stand on a pillar of sand, held together with contradictory propaganda.
Those who think they know the absolute truth are already wrong. Those who KNOW they know the absolute truth are fucking SCARY!
p.s. the latter are in charge.
thanks for reading
p.p.s i’m a 23 year old female from Perth, WA (for your own interpretation of what I have just said, I thought it would be nice for you all to know what demographic was talking)
Daniel says:
Jan 6, 2009
I know it’s the principle that counts here, but in practical terms, to what extent do these feeble attempts at social control really affect things in this borderless day and age? The Bill Henson scandal excepting, most of the entries here either made me chuckle (typical bloody Qld’ers – building height restrictions so as to deter gazing pedophiles, far out) or go ho hum (Manplay 37 banned, big deal, just type it into Google and there’s 5 VOD sites offering it just a link away).
The ACB is about as effective and relevant these days as the High Anglican Church, while I guess citizens do have the right to have moral panic attacks, and if their elected representatives react reactionarily then it’s really still up to the calmer minded amongst us to be the voice of reason.
The Bill Henson scandal though, that was a really sorry state of affairs, and thank God the ACB saw reason and rated his work “PG”, which kinda made all the damning loudmouths from politicians to the media to smart ass commentators the nation over just look pretty dumb in the end – note how quickly the furore died away once the works were rated innocent enough for kids to see.
One thing I would cynically conclude: unreason triumphs over yet another year.
Jenni says:
Jan 9, 2009
This really makes me want to die. This can -not- be the kind of country I am returning to.
Why does the Australian government insist on treating adults like children? As though we are somehow less capable than the rest of the world at choosing what we can and cannot ‘handle’ viewing? It is truly sickening.
Stilgherrian · Links for 29 December 2008 through 09 January 2009 says:
Jan 10, 2009
[...] Australia’s 20 Worst Cases of Censorship and Moral Outrage in 2008 | Somebody Think Of The Chi…: Again, what it says. [...]
spud says:
Jan 10, 2009
Reply to Grant Dec 2008 – The Australian media is no longer an immature nation. It has grown up and is playing the same tune as its international teachers. It publishes only a small edited part of a complaint that will ensure a sensational reaction from the public. Unfortunatly a politician will often react before researching the original complaint and its foundations. In their haste to console the complaintive, they can make an emotional judgement that further complicates the issue. Yes our politicians need to be less hasty, but our media needs to start taking responsibility for shafting so many legitimate complaints down the “wowserism” well.
If your views are so strong, why don’t you return home and share your “talent and visions” with your local community? Become a politician and show us how to do it. You could also become a parent and then see why such complaints manifest.
P.S – Don’t ditch your own country especially when you are not even here – its very unAustralian and very 2nd rate.
Fitzroyalty says:
Jan 12, 2009
Tziolas and the animated character as real person cases particularly annoyed me. When the Tziolas case eventually gets to court I hope it costs the government a significant sum to compensate her for this totally unacceptable abuse of power.
fatty_american says:
Jan 29, 2009
haha, you australians are crazy!
i thought american christians were bad, jeeze.
John says:
Aug 16, 2009
I’m about to agree with an American! WOW! I’m Canadian and we have issues, but reading about all this is kind of shocking. It sounds like you have a brutal amount of censorship. It bothers me that the government dictates what people can see. Where’s the freedom?!