Customs, Tribunal ‘timid’ (Press, 12 April 1983)

On 12 April 1983, the Society for Promotion of Community Standards, represented by national secretary Miss Patricia Bartlett, publicly criticised the Customs Department and the Indecent Publications Tribunal for their perceived ineffectiveness in controlling indecent publications in New Zealand. Bartlett highlighted the concerning delay in the referral of the American publication "Penthouse" by Customs to the Tribunal, stating that issues were being classified as indecent only after they had already been sold to the public. Specifically, she pointed out that the November 1981 issue was not deemed indecent until October 1982, while seven editions from 1982 were classified as indecent in March 1983, long after they had been released and distributed. Bartlett accused the Customs Department of failing in its duty to prevent the release of indecent materials, which is a requirement under the Customs Act. The tribunal, established to prevent the sale of such publications, was deemed by her to be overly lenient in its use of discretion regarding the classification process. She argued that the tribunal's slow response undermined the intentions of the Indecent Publications Amendment Act of 1972, which aimed to ensure that serial publications would be classified before reaching consumers. Furthermore, Labour Party spokesman on Internal Affairs, Mr J. J. Terris, joined in the criticism, emphasising that the Government's indecisive approach to regulating the importation of video pornography was contributing to its spread. Terris suggested that the Government appeared hesitant to take a strong stance against the issue, fearing that stringent regulations might conflict with a free enterprise ethos. He reported that video pornography was already being openly advertised in newspapers and marketed in massage parlours, indicating a troubling proliferation of such content. The Minister of Justice, Mr McLay, stated that he was monitoring the matter, yet there was growing concern from both Bartlett and Terris that without immediate action from the Government to establish clear standards against the exploitation of indecent materials, the situation would only worsen. They urged that a proactive approach was necessary to effectively combat the rising visibility and availability of pornographic content in New Zealand.

The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact

The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand