Australian Sex Party launches on
Thursday
SEX sells, and the newly formed Australian Sex Party
knows it.
That's why, even with what seem to be sensible policies rooted in a desire to
make sexuality and discussions about it less touchy subjects, the party has
chosen a name that stands out from the traditional ballot paper line-up.
The party, with the
slogan "we're serious about sex", launches at Melbourne Sexpo on November
20th and party convenor Fiona Patten is confident it will gain the 500 members
required to register and contest state Upper House and Senate seats.
Ms Patten, who is also the chief executive of the Eros Association - representing
the adult retail and entertainment industry, said she and others were concerned
about the Government's proposed internet filter, which is being tested
over summer on about 10,000 sites to block "unwanted content".
"This really came out of 20 years of lobbying on sex and censorship and
then... the latest being the compulsory internet filter, which will ... prohibit
and blacklist adult material that is currently legal in magazines, books and
film," she said.
"When we started talking about the Australian Sex Party, we realised that sex
is a lot broader than just censorship and a lot of the policies are a lot
broader."
Also on the party's list of policies, to be announced at the launch, is a
national sex education school curriculum.
"With the internet and the fear that children are being sexualised at an
early age, the first key action on that will be sex education," Ms Patten
said.
"Other countries such as the UK are introducing a national curriculum and we
think we should follow that."
The party would also look to overturn rules under which overseas aid was not
given to health clinics that were pro-choice, she said.
The party's provocative and potentially alienating name was a decision the
group wrestled with, Ms Patten said.
"We felt that - sex in a crowded room - now we've got your attention.
It's half the problem with politicians, because they still giggle when they say
the word sex, and that's why we have such idiotic policies at state and federal
levels," she said.
"Let's try and own that word on most government forms."
Ms Patten said there had already been a lot of interest from potential
members.
"We'll probably have our 500 members by the time we launch on Thursday. But
there's four million customers of adult shops in Australia."
She also hoped the 1000 or so adult shops around the country would become Sex
Party branches.
"Hopefully we'll get their attention with the word but then we may be able to
help influence some reasonably sensible policies."
With thanks from the
Australian
