20. Australia Post removes Lolita and other Penguin Classics from their shelves.
Popular Penguin edition of Lolita
PostShop outlets pull Popular Penguin titles such as Lolita, The History of Sexuality and The Delta of Venus from their shelves after customer complaints. Why? A spokesperson said the titles were inappropriate for a mainstream shop like Australia Post. I guess libraries and Dymocks aren’t mainstream.
19. Australia Post refuses to mail postcards with girly bits.
Mail-sorting staff would not process postcards featuring lifelike female genital images to promote artist Greg Taylor’s exhibition Cunts and other Conversations – part of the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
Cover your eyes
Police, Adelaide City Council and festival organisers later received complaints about Taylor’s promotional material which found itself plastered around town. Gabrielle Walsh from the Australian Family Association said Taylor ‘shouldn’t be allowed to force these images and words upon us in public for all to view, including children‘ and police investigated. Whether it was the images or the use of the word ‘cunt’ that got them so fired up is anyone’s guess.
18. Brisbane billboard brings in more than just business.
The owner of Brisbane gentleman’s club BConfidential received a death threat and furious complaints after a billboard was erected advertising the club. The sign read: ‘Tell your wife you’ll be late’.
Now on one of Brisbane's busiest roads.
According to the news reports one woman phoned in and said the owner should be put in a house with no doors and no windows and burnt to death, while a mother emailed the club’s manager stating “That I will not rest until this hideous message to decent society is removed by the powers that be. Hopefully your business and the sleazebag that created this campaign will not ever be able to publicly advertise your services again“.
The Advertising Standard Bureau dismissed all complaints (less than 20) and as a result the owners of BConfidential erected the same billboard on one of Brisbane’s busiest roads.
The Advertising Standards Bureau upheld community complaints against a tame Nando’s TV ad which featured a woman who can’t find her chips because her breasts are blocking her view. Watch it here.
16. ‘They Shake Me’ baby t-shirts rock the cradle
Child abuse or crude?
The Cotton On Kids clothing line was hammered for selling baby clothes with slogans such as ‘They Shake Me’.
Australian blogger Mia Freedman (Mamamia) was fuming:
IS THAT FUNNY, COTTON ON? IS IT? IS IT FUNNY TO JOKE ABOUT BABIES BEING ABUSED????
[...]
Internet, I am outraged, disgusted and distressed. I am a customer of Cotton On Kids. A long-time, loyal customer who buys a STACK of clothes there for my kids and who willingly endorses their products FOR FREE whenever I am interviewed by the media and asked where I buy my kids clothes.
Cotton On apologised and stopped selling the line of clothing.
15. No Red Bull thanks, we’re from New South Wales.
In response to reports about five year 7 students who suffered side effects including dizziness and nausea after consuming high energy drinks on their way to school, NSW Primary Industries Minister took it upon himself to find a way for the government to take energy drinks with high levels of caffeine off the shelves. (Update 04/01/10: As of October 2009 NSW removed five high caffeine drinks from sale)
14. Queensland Government bans skateboarding at night.
Anna Bligh is no stranger to this blog and her team made an appearance or two again this year (possibly for the most absurd reason yet). The QLD Government banned skateboarding, scooter riding and rollerblading at night to protect… well no one is sure who, it just had to be done. Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said she wasn’t anti-fun and ‘this is just as much about common courtesy as it is about common sense.’ She was unable to provide evidence it was needed and offenders are now slapped with a $40 fine.
13. Liberal MP wants ancient drinking board game banned.
Pass Out the board game
Liberal MP Steve Irons demanded a board game that he said encouraged alcohol abuse be banned from sale in Australia. The game in question, Pass-out, has players travel around the game board taking drinks and reciting tongue twisters and has been around in board game form since at least 1962. According to Refused-Classification.com, the game was called in by the Director of the Classification Board and was rated Category 1 on April 15th 2009.
12. Greater Union stops screening Aussie gang film in NSW.
Greater Union stopped showing The Combination (MA15+) in their NSW cinemas after ‘violence flared’ among patrons in one screening at Parramatta. Whether the violence was related to the film wasn’t confirmed.
11. North Korean artists refused Australian Visa.
The Australian Government refused to make a visa exemption for six artists from North Korea to visit Brisbane and speak about their art at the Queensland Art Gallery. The Department of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying the studio where the artists work ‘reportedly produces almost all of the official artworks in North Korea, including works that clearly constitute propaganda.’ The art was still shown and the artists were allowed to speak in other countries where their work was exhibited.
10. NSW Police go after Aussie Graffiti mags.
After Wentworthville Police submitted two graffiti magazines to the Australia Classification Board, one is refused classification and another rated M. Update: The ACB’s classification database originally stated the magazine Death From Above #1 had been refused classification. We have now been informed this magazine was not classified RC and the ACB’s website has since been corrected.
9. More and more adult DVD bans.
Girls Who Like Girls, Girls in Need and a bonus DVD attached to a Hustler magazine were just a small portion of the adult films banned in 2009. An adult film can be banned in Australia if it contains fetishes, even one as common as spanking.
8. Books with incest pulled from Queensland libraries, banned.
Author Charles Kevin’s self-published books Sibling Love and Bet and Zak which feature ‘graphic’ descriptions of sexual relationships between mother and son and brother and sister were pulled from South East Queensland Library shelves after complaints.
Jan Richards from the Australian Library and Information Association said libraries believed that people should be able to read what they want to read with a degree of privacy.
‘However the issue of children accessing inappropriate material is a very real one and we all have systems in place whereby we would stop a child from taking something that was inappropriate, but at the same time we think that there is a very important role for parents to play’ she said.
Richards said it was unlikely that all of the libraries holding Mr Kevin’s novels will pull them from the shelves, but both books were later banned by the Classification Board following an application from the Department of Justice and the Attorney General.
Books with graphic descriptions of murder remain on library shelves.
7. Freeview TV ad parody disappears from YouTube.
A parody of the Freeview TV commercial was yanked from YouTube but why? Freeview Marketing Manager Liz Howarth denied they had made a complaint but Google soon revealed they had received a DMCA takedown notice from lawyers acting on behalf of Freeview Australia Limited. Watch it here.
6. Kevin Rudd’s war on The Chaser.
ABC’s The Chaser War On Everything offended Kevin Rudd and half of Australia for airing a skit about terminally ill children. Mr Rudd said The Chaser team should hang their heads in shame and that it had gone too far. The show was suspended, but calls for it to be axed were ignored and it soon returned.
5. Kyle and Jackie O.
Kyle Sandilands
The Kylie and Jackie O Show was suspended after airing a segment in which a 14-year-old girl was strapped to a lie detector and questioned by her mother, Sandilands and Jackie O about her past experiences with sex and drugs — A recipe for disaster with the child admitting she was raped at the age of 12. There was a national outcry and legitimate concerns about the treatment (or exploitation) of children for entertainment were raised. However, many of the attacks focused more on silencing Sandilands and campaigning to remove him from the airwaves.
4. Abby Winters raided, cleared, charged.
The popular Australian-operated adult website Abby Winters was raided by police in June 2009 after The Herald Sun provided police with ‘a dossier of information’ about the allegedly illegal porn the site had ‘churned out in Melbourne since about 2000′.
The site’s CEO Garion Hall issued Somebody Think Of The Children with a statement confirming no charges were laid.
Confiscated DVD titles were submitted to the classification board by Victoria Police for review and all were classified X18+. None were Refused Classification.
However, in December 2009 Hall was charged with 54 counts of making objectionable films (see What is an objectionable film in Victoria) for gain and possessing a commercial quantity of objectionable films. The Herald Sun also reports he has been charged with child pornography offences after police ‘seized footage of allegedly illegal sex acts’.
Hall commented on the Abby Winters forum that as the matter is before the courts he is unable to comment other than it’s business as usual.
3. Censors Vs MUFF.
The Australia Classification Board refused to give the Melbourne Underground Film Festival an exemption to screen Jennifer Bell’s short film Matinee. MUFF organisers were outraged that Australia’s censors had sought fit to ban ‘Matinée’ for the sole reason that it depicts actual sex despite being ‘set within a relationship based on love and mutual desire’.
The film’s director also wrote a letter to the ACB, stating:
‘The sexual relationship portrayed by the characters Mariah and Daniel in Matinée is not only a consensual, emotional and nuanced relationship, but their sex plays an important role in the story of the film’.
The censors didn’t care.
2. The year of banned games.
A screen capture from Left 4 Dead 2
All of the following video games were refused classification, with Aliens vs. Predator lucky enough to be reclassified MA15+ after review.
- Aliens vs. Predator
- Crimecraft
- Left 4 Dead 2
- Necrovision
- Risen
- Sexy Poker
South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinston also called for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to be refused classification, but was unsuccessful.
1. Chris Illingworth charged for uploading video which is later rated just MA15+.
After a lengthy campaign throughout 2008 and 2009 by Queensland Police to prosecute 61 year-old Sunshine Coast resident Chris Illingworth with child abuse offences for uploading a video to a website of man swinging a baby, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions dropped all charges in September.
The saga began in 2008 when Illingworth’s home was raided by police after he uploaded a video of what is believed to be a training film for a Russian circus family. He was charged with accessing and uploading child-abuse material and faced a maximum of 20 years jail. The Australian Classification Board later classified the video as MA15+ (suitable for those over the age of fifteen and the same rating as the Jim Carrey comedy Me, Myself and Irene) and the charges were dropped shortly after. The decision highlighted that the Queensland Police’s relentless pursuit of Illingworth was completely unwarranted.
36 comments
Mosh says:
Jan 3, 2010
Holy crap. See, this is why I’m loathe to consider Oz as a place to emigrate to. Much as I loved my time there, think the people are great and so on – your laws and government are playing catch-up to be as pathetic as the one we have here in the UK.
Good luck with that IP censoring thing as well. How long before your web site is taken down for being unconstitutional?
Mark says:
Jan 3, 2010
Great list, thanks for keeping up with the news. All the best with staying on top of all 2010 will bring!
Stuart says:
Jan 4, 2010
Rebellion (makers of AvP) received an initial banning, and instead of cowardly caving like Valve did with L4D2, they told the Classification Board to go fuck themselves (and I quote: “We will not be releasing a sanitised or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices”). Surprise, surprise, the Board back flips without Rebellion making a single change to the game.
Who’d have thought that Rebellion would be schooling Valve in how to do business?
HTA says:
Jan 4, 2010
Great list.
#18 made me laugh, most of the others just made me cringe at the way our country is being run.
RJG says:
Jan 4, 2010
Stuart, Valve did not “cave” immediately, they appealed first, just like Rebellion and Sega. The only difference is that the AVP appeal succeeded, Valve’s didn’t. That’s why the censored version was submitted.
JarZ says:
Jan 4, 2010
you’ve forgotten about an important but not highly reported act of censorship in South Australia. the christian first.. sorry, “family” first party sucessfully introduced legislation that bans R18+ movies from being openly displayed for sale, or from being promoted. news link is here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/03/2760837.htm
venomqo says:
Jan 4, 2010
—-(and I quote: “We will not be releasing a sanitised or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices”) —-
amen to that.
MJH says:
Jan 4, 2010
Mr Michael Meloni, you need to get your facts straight before posting false information.
Item 15, the energy drinks. NSW examined 85 energy drinks on the market, and found 77 percent of them to exceed the legal caffeine limit, some by more than 30 percent.
http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/aboutus/media-releases/mr-23-Oct-09-nsw-leads-on-energy-drink-review/
At the time of that article’s writing, 5 drinks had indeed been taken off the shelves in NSW, and it’s now turning into a national investigation. And you know what? I think this is a good thing.
Geordie says:
Jan 4, 2010
@MJH
/You/ think it’s a good thing? Well. If an anonymous commenter on a blog has signed it off, that’s basically the same as a double-blind clinical trial that articulates clear risks and then firm action isn’t it? I particularly liked when you used the word “percent”, that makes it heaps more important.
By the way, when you use the term “legal limit”, I’m assuming you have some sort of backup for using the word “legal”? I mean, beyond the fact that they may breach Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Standard 2.6.4? ’cause a breach of a standards code is not committing an offence – just sayin’.
*chortle* Dork.
Finnigan says:
Jan 4, 2010
First-class effort, MM!
Icaria says:
Jan 4, 2010
I suppose, if we legalise pot and make A Clockwork Orange mandatory viewing in all schools, we’ll have respectively chilled out and lowered the standards of the population sufficiently, that this problem could be fixed within… thirty to fifty years.
Or we could make a point of criticising politicians for always going for the pet issues and soft-targets, while neglecting to deal with more pertinent, general interest issues. Turn it into a meme like, “won’t somebody think of the children?!!”: “Won’t somebody think of a real issue?!!”, perhaps?
Conroy’s Christmas present, Internet censorship #nocleanfeed | Leefe rates the world... says:
Jan 4, 2010
[...] Australia’s 20 Worst Cases of Censorship and Moral Panic in 2009 (Michael Meloni, 3 Jan 2009) Cases of overreaction and censorship in Australia in 2009. Share and Enjoy: [...]
MJH says:
Jan 4, 2010
@Geordie
Hah. I was never even implying that just because I believed it to be a good thing that those drinks were getting taken off shelves then it must be the best thing ever and everyone should agree with me. I was merely stating my opinion.
What exactly is the difference between using the word “percent” or using the % symbol? Not any different to writing “two” instead of 2. I particularly liked the part where you decided to “chortle” instead of just “chuckle” or “quietly laugh” – that makes what you said sound heaps smarter.
About the whole “legal” thing and your semantics, I was merely quoting was was said in the article I linked to. You know, the actual evidence I provided. Where’s your evidence?
That’s all I’ll say in response to you and your chortle, and I won’t post here again. I’ll just close off by saying that all my previous post was designed for was to point our that Mr Meloni was misinformed about that particular story. He quite factually stated that no energy drinks have been taken off the shelves – which is in fact false.
Kath says:
Jan 4, 2010
I can also tell you that the books by Charles Kevin were removed by most libraries LONG before the kerfuffle because nobody would borrow them. They gathered dust on the shelves and took up valuable space where books that WERE being used could be housed. Mostly because they were shithouse.
I very much believe in appropriateness of audience/venue, and some of the stuff above yeah, I don’t feel is suitable for public audience/all ages audience (kinda like wearing your double pluggers to a royal wedding or turning up to a kindergarten bearing R rated movies).
What shits me is the whole drama and outrage – just like your catchphrase “Won’t SOMEBODY think of the children!?!?” that people use to air their complaints about the material.
Why have we lost the ability to reasonably present an intelligent argument as to why we feel something isn’t appropriate? Instead people suggest violence and threaten legal action. It’s like there’s a huge section of society that have never left the mental attitude of stomping their foot to get what they want.
Charles says:
Jan 5, 2010
The skateboarding at night thing is not just Qld its an Australian Road Rule. These are determined by a national committee of road safety experts. Not skateboarding at night on the road is a nobrainer and shouldn’t even need a law.
STWA says:
Jan 5, 2010
RJG,
Valve did mess up… They submitted the censored version to the OFLC BEFORE the appeal of the original. This allowed for the review board to fall back on edited version.
Rebellion and Sega took an “all or nothing” approach and it worked.
robbie Swan says:
Jan 5, 2010
Great list ..the one that got away was that 2009 saw the first adult shop owner ever sent to jail for selling ….get this..an X rated film in NSW. I’ll say that again. An adult shop owner was sent to jail by the NSW criminal justice system for selling a film that is legal to import into Australia, legal to purchase anywhere in Australia and legal to possess anywhere in Australia. Just not legal to sell under archaic state laws. X rated films are classified by people John Howard installed as censors during his reign under guidelines that are the strictest in the western world. On the other side of the ledger, the Australian Sex Party came third in the Bradfield by election and a close fourth in the Higgins by election showing that even in two of the most conservative seats in Australia there are signs that people are starting to sit up and take notice of the creeping nanny state that we all live in these days.
TB says:
Jan 7, 2010
@STWA
And there are absolutely *no* guarantees that a similar tactic by Valve would have worked. With global releases becoming increasingly common for computer/video games, Valve wanted to have as many people as possible to be able to play on launch day. The appeal would have ended only a couple of weeks prior to launch. AvP won’t be hitting shelves until mid-February. The only thing Valve did wrong was deciding not to take a gamble that the appeal would work. That, and leaving things like submission for classification to the last bloody minute (but when you consider that L4D got through unscathed, can you blame them? I don’t.)
The RC didn’t exactly stop people from acquiring the uncensored version anyway. People either imported the uncensored version (usually at prices LESS than Australian retail) or they received uncensored versions of the game as gifts from foreign friends over Valve’s Steam service (then presumably paid their buddies via paypal).
Why Censorship Is Unlikely To Stop With RC Content | Lifehacker Australia says:
Jan 11, 2010
[...] Australia’s 20 Worst Cases of Censorship and Moral Panic in 2009 Tagged:aucensorshipclean feedisps [...]
Ben says:
Jan 11, 2010
Ahh the joys of living in the United States of Australia. In my opinion the states often ruin this country as they have too much power to interfere with our everyday lives while their politics are too easily influenced by minority stake holders. I would be a proponent of less government and further federalism but all the major parties, there too seem to have reverted back to arch social-conservatism.
Australia is the most censored nation in the western world; it was never used to be that way until John Howard was elected and needed to appease independent senators! Since when has mainstream Australia wanted to emulate conservative, mainstream America?! At least they have legally binding rights protecting their civil liberties to make an adult choice!
Kitty says:
Jan 12, 2010
Wow….. My country is run by complete morons.
The Nando’s ad ban offended me, as I have really large boobs and find it offensive that somebody would find that offensive
Websinthe says:
Jan 13, 2010
I love you Mike.
Luke says:
Jan 13, 2010
Kitty, you sound like my type, can i have your number? Lol!
Lets see if that gets censored by Conroy?
AileenWuornos says:
Jan 13, 2010
@Charles
Skateboarding at night is the best time.
European says:
Jan 14, 2010
Australia more desperately need Bill of rights than China or Iran.
family first party sucessfully introduced legislation that bans R18+ movies from being openly displayed for sale, or from being promoted.
Here in Europe even erotic or porn movies are openly displayed and our kids are all right. Why ban just a picture cover of R18+ rated DVD is beyond reason…
Daniel says:
Jan 17, 2010
It’s too bad that a small minority of enthusiastic Christian moralists seem to be controlling the agenda of what we can/cannot see, read, play with etc. I cannot believe that most Australians would give a rat’s arse about most of these issues, so our politicians pander to the minority which does, because to it moral issues are so important that it affects how these people vote, whereas the majority casts its vote on much more prominent issues like health, the economy, education and so on. I hope one day that this trend that seems to have become totally entrenched when Brian Harradine was Father of the Senate will be reversed.
Feed Proxy 17th January « Unspeakable Evil says:
Jan 17, 2010
[...] 20 worst cases of Censorship in Australia in 2009 [Link] [...]
Dave says:
Jan 18, 2010
Wow. I finally have reason to be happy that I live in the United States. With the possible exceptions of #14 (Banning skateboarding after dark – this is an issue for local government only, though, not a national level regulation) and #11 (Denying North Korean artists permission to enter the country) NONE of these would fly here in the States. (Despite pressure from fundie Christnuts)
Ya’ll need the ACLU down there.
Sansha says:
Jan 18, 2010
I wonder whether it’s a problem that I find 2009′s list less outrageous than 2008′s… Either they’re tamer censorship bans or I’m starting to get used to it… Hmmmmm
Jackie says:
Jan 21, 2010
The Nando’s add was actually used in South Africa, no banning there.
I personally watched it when I was there and yes Kitty, us gals really do have a hard time sometimes.
Although hers did look fake, they could have at least chosen one of us.
Cheers,
Jackie. D
John Butler, FSS says:
Jan 25, 2010
I would love to hear more of this backwoods’ stuff, rmeinds me of live in england when I was a boy in 1924
Old Uncle John
Rod Williams says:
Jan 25, 2010
I had to deal with similar circumstances in 1991 when Aust Customs in Brisbane raided my residence, looking for illegal porn. They found illegal horror films instead. I dare say the material (Italian zombies gutting bad actors) was much less naughty than they were hoping to find. Fuck em.
Concerned says:
Jan 25, 2010
I’m surprised that the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) hasn’t made this list, but considering it is scheduled to be “concluded” this year, it’ll probably make this year’s list.
An article in today’s Age:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/australia-joins-copyright-theft-talks-20100125-muhu.html
David says:
Feb 4, 2010
Hey thanks for running this site and getting this type of information out to the public. Cheers to a (hopefully) better 2010.
I really don’t think I’ll raise my family here if things keep going the way they are. That is, a nation spoon fed by their government. And on that spoon is a mixture of nutty draconian style laws and sugary coated, thin skinned politicians whose only worry is their rating polls.
Terry Wright says:
Feb 16, 2010
Great list.
A real eye opener!
Is this really what Australia is coming to? Scary stuff.
Great site BTW.
Rohan says:
Jul 13, 2010
Great website!
The censorship issue seems to be the new idological divide.
For the Record: Energy drinks are allowed to have 80mg of Caffeine per 250ml of drink. This a food Standards code and roughly the same as a cup of coffee. To remain consitent with their proposed energy drink ban are they going to limit people to one latte at a cafe too? I think not! Just becaue some idiot morons choose to drink 10 red bulls and get sick, the Nanny State decides every Adult in the country is not responsible enough to drink 1 or 2?
Anyone can buy a packet of 12 100mg caffeine tablets in the form of No Doze. I even found a food ingredient shop selling 440grams of PURE caffeine powder for $60! Golly The Nanny State will have kiniption when she finds out!