Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Then I think there is a very important issue here. We are being told that what is happening under this legislation is to stop people accessing pornography using publicly funded computers. We have examples now of people under the government’s watch, in its own backyard in Canberra in the Public Service, accessing pornography with a standard, a benchmark of some kind, that the government applies. I do not think it is adequate to answer the question by saying you are unaware of what goes on elsewhere. I want to be sure that whatever standard you apply is a standard that you will apply in the Public Service following these clear breaches and access to pornography. I think the public are shocked enough about the statistics that have been released about the Northern Territory. They will also be shocked to know that in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 11 people were sacked, 14 have resigned and several have walked and that there are investigations going on. What I am asking is: are there different standards being applied to publicly funded computers in areas prescribed under this legislation from those that are prescribed in the Commonwealth Public Service, given that in the Commonwealth Public Service people have been accessing pornography?