Confused travellers unsure about what sort of porn they're allowed to bring into Australia have prompted a re-working of incoming passenger cards.
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said he had asked to change the wording on the declaration
cards travellers must fill out when they fly into Australia.
The previous card stated that travellers needed to disclose any 'pornography' they were carrying,' O'Connor said: That has now been amended to read 'illegal pornography .''
But with no further advice on hand about what constitutes 'illegal pornography' , travellers may be forced to run their selection by a Customs officer.
My advice to travellers is that if you're in doubt – find out, O'Connor
said: Customs officers operate with discretion and the penalties for failing to declare a prohibited import are steep. Prohibited pornography includes child pornography and material depicting bestiality, explicit sexual violence, degradation, cruelty
and non-consensual sex, a statement from the Minister said.
The Australian Sex Party claimed credit for the changes today. The party's spokesman Robbie Swan said he wrote to O'Connor's office about six months ago after receiving complaints
from a number of members, including a couple on their honeymoon, who thought they had to declare naked pictures of themselves after reading the incoming passenger card. Others had called the party to complain that the ambiguous wording meant they were
forced to declare material that was legal in Australia, he said.
A fine of up to $11,000 applies if travellers are caught making a false or misleading statement to a Customs officer.
Update:
Honeymoon Snaps
27th October 2010. From aolnews.com, thanks to David
The Australian press is reporting that the poor treatment of a couple returning from honeymoon was the spur to a re-wording of Australia's porn declaration requirements at customs:
Afraid of breaking the law, an
Australian couple returning home from an overseas honeymoon felt obliged to show customs officials naked photos of themselves.
[The couple were] on the beach, they were nude, they'd taken a photo of themselves on
their iPhone having an embrace, said Robbie Swan, spokesman for the Australian Sex Party. It wasn't full on or anything, but when they'd gone through customs they'd asked what 'pornography' meant and the customs officer had said: 'Well, anything
explicit.'
They were made to display a nude photo of themselves in a line with all these other people, Swan said. They were so embarrassed.
The Sex Party, a
libertarian political organization and lobby group, says it has received complaints from angry citizens over the law, which was introduced late last year. The government has told travelers to show their photographs to customs officers if they are in
doubt about the content.
The previous [arrival] card stated that travelers needed to disclose any 'pornography' they were carrying, Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said in a statement. That has now
been amended to read 'illegal pornography.'
The government says illegal pornography in Australia includes child pornography and material depicting bestiality, explicit sexual violence, degradation, cruelty and
nonconsensual sex.