Minister of Internal Affairs fails in statutory duty over 22 month-old vacancies on Board
Media Release 22/03/06
The terms of office of eight members of the Film and Literature Board of Review expired almost 22 months ago and yet the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. Rick Barker, has failed to either reappoint them or replace them. They include Rotorua-based barrister Claudia Elliott (President), Greg Presland (Deputy President), Mark Anderson, Peter Cartwright (the Governor-General’s husband), Dr Brian McDonnell, Marion Orme, Dr Lalita Rajasinghe and Stephen Stehlin.
They have all continued to meet regularly as a board, issue highly controversial classification decisions and have been paid fees and allowances since 31 May 2004 when their terms of office expired. The Minister has claimed that all these Board members, who were first appointed on 1 June 2001, have remained in office despite the expiry date having passed, because the former Minister, the Hon. George Hawkins, requested that they remain in office.
The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards president Mike Petrus asks: “If Mr Hawkins truly had confidence in the eight board members, why did he not reappoint them in June 2004 and why has Mr Barker allowed the vacancies to remain unfilled? Why should the public not conclude that the Minister and his departments have failed in their statutory duties?” (The term of office of the ninth member of the Board, former Maori Television’s Acting Chief Executive, Ani Walker, expires on 31 August 2006).
In response to a parliamentary written question Mr Barker has indicated that “the process [filling the eight vacancies] should be completed by April 2006” (Q 11043). Following concerns raised with the Minister by the Society that were reported in the media, he called for nominations for the eight “vacant” board positions in December 2005, setting a deadline for receipt of nominations of 21 December 2005.
Petrus says: “The Society strongly opposes the reappointment of any of the current Board members, whose classification decisions reflect an extremely liberal mindset. For example, this board unanimously approved the following films for adult viewing for the purpose of “entertainment” in cinemas and/or for home viewing and/or study by students in tertiary film and media courses, following reviews: the brutal and sexually explicit rape films “Baise-Moi” and “Irreversible”; the sexually explicit film “9 Songs”, the sexually degrading film “Anatomy of Hell” and video “Sinners No Doctor, Yes Doctor”, and the gratuitous Japanese sex-violence film “Visitor Q”, depicting necrophilia, sex acts involving human excrement, incest and corpse mutilation. The board issued these decisions well aware that it is parliament’s intentions, as embodied in section 3 of the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act 1993, that such obscene content matter should be strictly off limits for the public (e.g. lengthy explicit depictions of rape and necrophilia).”
In the year ended 30 June 2005, the Board issued 11 decisions. The Society obtained the Secretary of Internal Affairs’ leave to bring five of these reviews. The Board that reviews decisions issued by the Classification Office, has never issued a classification decision that significantly tightens viewing restrictions. It has always just ‘rubber stamped’ decisions issued by the Office or relaxed viewing restrictions imposed by the Office.
The current Board and Chief Censor Bill Hastings, will be remembered as responsible for allowing for the dissemination the most brutal sexually violent films ever screened in New Zealand cinemas and tertiary institutions (“Baise-Moi” and “Irreversible”). Board members like Peter Cartwright who, like the Chief Censor, has been issuing liberal decisions on indecent publications for years, appears to have become thoroughly dessentised to the real effect of hard core porn and depictions of sexual violence and obscenity, on viewers. Sadly, the injury to the public good created by their decisions will leave a nasty and pernicious legacy for which decent-minded New Zealanders will remember them.
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