MEDIA AND POP CULTURE
Motion Accorded Priority
Ms TANYA GADIEL (Parramatta—Parliamentary Secretary) [3.47 p.m.]: I move:
That this House:
(1) congratulates the Government on its recent initiatives to ensure young people across New
South Wales are protected from the influence of peer and media pressure;
(2) notes the negative impact that recent media hype surrounding reality television and other
popular culture can have on vulnerable young people; and
(3) calls on the producers of this material to behave responsibly and consider the impact of
their work.
As a mother of two young girls I am becoming increasingly concerned about the pressure young people are
facing at an early age. Every day our young kids are subjected to the wrong messages from the media and their
peers: messages that tell them that they are not pretty enough, skinny enough or cool enough. With the everincreasing popularity of shows like Big Brother and Extreme Makeover I fear that children are being put at risk
by irresponsible television production.
The Iemma Government is working hard to protect young people from the influence of peer and media pressure.
This is not 1984, or Big Brother for that matter: The Government cannot be in every lounge room monitoring
the reading and viewing habits of our children. Parents and the media must take responsibility for the messages
that children are receiving. It is up to parents to decide the information their children consume. If parents simply
turn off the television, media outlets soon will get the message that allowing alcohol-fuelled people to behave
like buffoons for the sake of ratings is not acceptable. Since Big Brother began we have seen sexual behaviour
televised live on television, bullying, and finally the entrance of that fool Corey Worthington as an intruder.
Mr Barry O'Farrell: Did you switch it off? How did you see it?
The SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Barry O'Farrell: Because of alcohol.
The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will remain silent.
Ms TANYA GADIEL: Since hosting that wildly out-of-control party at his parent's home in Victoria, Corey, I
am disgusted to say, has become somewhat of a hero. His outrageous display of disgusting behaviour, underage
drinking, violence and vandalism has been the subject of numerous radio and television interviews. Corey now
has his own fan club with a website and, I would argue, has bastardised completely the Beastie Boys song Fight
for your right to party. A website has instructions on how to hold a Corey-style party, which will encourage
young people to emulate Corey's ridiculousness. As Parliamentary Secretary for Police, I remind the House that
the Government has put in place measures to stop and prevent house parties from getting out of control. Those
measures include an initiative that enables party hosts to register a party with the police. Having been made
aware of it, police monitor the situation and help prevent hoodlum party crashers.
Mr Barry O'Farrell: Didn't Corey live in the house? Didn't his parents give him permission?
Ms TANYA GADIEL: The Leader of the Opposition is demonstrating his ignorance.
The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will cease interjecting.
Ms TANYA GADIEL: Corey's self-declared "best party ever" was nothing more than an ultimate display of
disregard for the law, his parents, his neighbours and the community. I was most concerned about the media
hype generated by this young idiot with his yellow sunglasses and silly baseball cap. All it has achieved is to
make a cult hero out of an irresponsible twit. His appearance on Big Brother served only to condone his
behaviour. In my view, the producers of Big Brother, and every other reality and pop culture television program,
have a responsibility to the viewers. They must keep in mind that normalising this type of behaviour can have an
adverse effect on the vulnerable young minds that consume their programs. We can turn off our televisions and
parents do have a responsibility to their children. But it is not good enough for producers and magazine editors
to simply ignore that they influence our young people. What young people see and hear, and how they use the
information can be damaging to their self-esteem and skew their views about the way responsible adults behave.
I do not believe there would be a parent in this place who at some time or another has not been concerned about
their children's consumption of violent video games, such as the recently released Grand Theft Auto 4, which
involves the violent stealing of cars; reality television shows, such as Big Brother and Australia's Next Top
Model; and magazines such as Cleo and Dolly, which are aimed at tweens and teenage girls. Parents and
government cannot watch children all the time. While I understand that some people enjoy the voyeurism and
escapism of reality television and other pop culture entertainment, our first responsibility must be to the young
minds that are being shaped by the consumption of this material day in and day out.
I have two very young daughters. The last place I want them to discover their sense of self and self-worth is
from watching Australia's Next Top Model or reading the pages of Cleo. The young women, often teenagers still
in high school, who appear on Australia's Next Top Model are denigrated publicly for their size and appearance.
Some have been labelled too big, others too thin. It reinforces a culture of regarding women as objects or clothes
horses who have value only because of the way they look. The Government has been particularly concerned
about young girls who are involved in modelling. So concerned was the Premier that he moved to strengthen
regulation about child modelling, cutting the age at which models must register with the Commission for
Children and Young People from 16 to 15. We must let our children be children.
Mrs SHELLEY HANCOCK (South Coast) [3.54 p.m.]: I congratulate the member for Parramatta on moving
this motion about young people. We often do not talk in this place about the real issues facing young people. I
respect her dedication to her electorate and I respect her as a person. At first, I became excited when I read
paragraph (1) of the motion, which states:
Congratulates the Iemma Government on its recent initiatives to ensure young people across
NSW are protected from the influence of peer and media pressure;
When reading that paragraph, I assumed that the Government would announce key initiatives. I listened
carefully to the speech given by the member for Parramatta, yet I did not hear her announce one new initiative. I
heard her make an understandable tirade against Big Brother. Opposition members do not watch Big Brother.
We just look across at members on the other side of the House to see Big Brother in action right before our eyes.
We do not need to watch Big Brother on television. I was disappointed that the member did not announce any
new initiatives. In her speech the member made a brief reference to the Minister for Police, Corey Worthington
and party plans. The Minister for Police announced the party plan initiative two or three years before Corey
Worthington's party. That initiative had no effect whatsoever on the events at Cory Worthington's house that
night.
Ms TANYA GADIEL: Cory Worthington's house is in Melbourne, Victoria.
The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! What is the member's point of order?
Ms TANYA GADIEL: I made my point.
The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! I remind the member for Parramatta that there is an appropriate way in
which to take a point of order.
Mrs SHELLEY HANCOCK: There was no point of order. The member for Parramatta does not want to hear
what I have to say. She is embarrassed about her poorly worded motion. I am sure she did not write it. If she
had, she would have been as excited as I was about the prospect of new initiatives. She would have given
information in her speech about government initiatives. There are no new initiatives. Paragraph (2) of the
motion states:
Notes the negative impact that recent media hype surrounding reality television and other
popular culture can have on vulnerable young people …
I do not understand what the member means. Does she mean the negative impact of recent media hype or the
negative impact of reality television and popular culture? The motion simply does not make sense. Paragraph (3)
states:
Calls on the producers of this material to behave responsibly and consider the impact of their
work.
Is the New South Wales Labor Government going to tell the owners and producers of Big Brother to consider its
impact on young viewers and cancel the program? If the Government were as concerned as the member
suggested, it would have done something. The member stated that she is the mother of two young daughters. My
daughters have grown up and are somewhat older than hers. I was always concerned about the material they
were exposed to. The member's comment hit the nail on the head: as parents we must protect our children from
these television programs. Government does not and cannot play a role in this regard. Because of their age,
children and teenagers always will be vulnerable to peer pressure. As parents we must impress upon them their
individuality and ensure that the education system teaches children about the way in which the media exploit
them and skew their views.
The member for Parramatta spoke about exploitation by the media. I refer members to election material for the
2007 election to see how the Australian Labor Party completely misled the community. It lied to the community
about supposed cuts the Coalition would make to nurses and police numbers. That was an absolute lie and a
disgraceful, shameful act. The Australian Labor Party exploited the media and, through them, young vulnerable
people. If the Government wants a debate about young people and their problems, then bring it on. Let us have a
proper debate about the issues faced by young people in New South Wales. Research shows that 9.5 per cent of
girls aged 14 to 19 years drink alcohol at risky or high-risk levels at least weekly. That is an issue that should be
debated in this place. Further, 26.5 per cent of girls aged 14 to 19 years have taken illicit drugs, compared with
21.1 per cent of boys. The number of girls who are smoking has increased. When I was a teacher the numbers
were dropping. Let us debate that issue.
Another issue we should debate is the protection of children who go online. All these issues are emerging as we
have moved into the Internet era. Twenty-six per cent of Australia's 3.8 million MySpace users are aged 18
years. Rather than talk about Corey Worthington and his parties let us talk about homelessness. Currently,
approximately 100,000 people in Australia are homeless, with about one-third aged 25 years and under. Let us
have a debate on that. Let us have a debate on mental health and let us consider that the motion moved by the
member for Parramatta was accorded priority over a motion by the member for Albury and shadow Minister for
Mental Health on mental health and the shortage of mental health beds. I could go on for half an hour about the
shortage of mental health beds in the Shoalhaven Hospital—there are none. Even though we have been
promised 12 to 15 mental health beds in the clinical services plan, we have not seen one: it is a broken promise.
Mental health, homelessness, and drug and alcohol abuse are serious issues facing young people and we should
debate those issues. We should consider also what is happening in our schools. Wonderful teachers work in our
schools, but they are going on strike in a week or so. Why? Because this Government is not listening to them
about staffing issues and the importance of retaining the staffing system that will encourage and attract teachers
to join the New South Wales teaching force. Teachers are turning away and retiring in droves from the New
South Wales system because of the challenges they face and because this Government does not listen to them.
This Government does not work with teachers and it does not cooperate with teachers. Hence, young people in
our schools are feeling a little demoralised also. Public schools have a $115 million maintenance backlog.
Young people are now being educated in schools with leaking roofs and leaking toilets. At Ulladulla High
School, where I used to teach, sewage overflowed onto the playground. These are the things that young people
are experiencing throughout the State. Let us have a real debate about those issues and not about Corey
Worthington and Big Brother.
Ms DIANE BEAMER (Mulgoa) [4.01 p.m.]: The Premier has introduced a number of important initiatives
aimed at preserving the innocence of our children. I do not want to go into a debate about how many daughters
members have, but I have five, and one of the things that really concerns me is the increasing sexualisation of
young children. I am sure that many people are concerned about the pressures on young girls who have been
influenced by popular culture and television shows. But there are also other ways in which our young people are
being sexualised. I was never more appalled than when I went to a department store a couple of years ago and
saw a padded bra marketed at 10-year-olds. One cannot help but be concerned about the way in which our
community is heading when these types of things are on sale.
Young women and girls are particularly vulnerable to the perceptions of how they should look and behave.
Their role models, who are ultra-thin and show appalling behaviour and poor choices, are popularised in
magazines and on television shows, and that carries into our culture. It is almost as if a young girl has to behave
in an extraordinary way to grace the front cover of our more popular magazines. I will not to go on too much
about Big Brother, but a couple of years ago one of the contestants and her mother appeared on Big Brother and
talked about their breast enlargements. The young woman was just 17 years of age. She has since gone on to
model for illustrious publications such as Zoo Weekly.
These kinds of things encourage young girls to have a very flawed image of themselves. If they do not fit media
portrayals of attractive and desirable then we have the phenomenon of young women seeking cosmetic surgery.
A prominent Sydney plastic surgeon told the media that about 5 per cent to 10 per cent of the people who
approach him are young women aged 18 to 23 years seeking breast enlargements. The Government was
extremely concerned about the health implications of cosmetic surgery on young girls and, as a result, tightened
the regulations dealing with cosmetic surgery, particularly for young people under the age of 18 years.
The changes to the regulations include a cooling-off period for people under the age of 18 years, as well as
tougher rules for advertising cosmetic surgery. Under the changes, scientific or technical information in
advertisements will be required to be presented in a way that is easily understood by anyone considering the
procedure. Photographs in advertisements will have to be more realistic and must include information
explaining the relevance of the photographs. Women's magazines and publications, in which movie stars look
unrealistically glamorous, are targeted at teenagers. These publications must take responsibility and start
portraying a more real image of young girls and women. I commend the motion and the initiative of the State
Government.
Mr GEOFF PROVEST (Tweed) [4.04 p.m.]: I acknowledge particularly the comments made by the member
for Parramatta. It strikes me that the Government is big on spin and it is big on warm, fuzzy things, but in my
electorate there has been a real lack of initiatives to look after youth. In our area we receive media footprints
from across the border. The Premiers met in 2006 and promised better meetings to discuss cross-border issues.
Since that time there has been only one meeting. I would be the first to say that children in New South Wales are
our future, but more should be done to protect them.
In the Tweed we do not have any mental health youth workers, yet there is a significant amount of mental health
problems among our youth. The Australian National Youth Mental Health Forum says that 70 per cent of mental
health disorders start before the age of 25, but that 70 per cent of young men who experience mental health and
substance abuse problems do not seek help. It is pretty hard in the Tweed to seek help if none is available.
Members of two organisations, Rosie Kids on the Street and the Cool Heads, go out into the local community to
talk to young people and find solutions to their many and varied issues. Some of these young people live in
abusive homes and they also have to deal with the enormous problem of peer pressure.
I would not like to grow up today because I believe television places a significant amount of pressure on the
youth of today. But people cannot ring a television producer and ask him or her to stop the pressure; plans have
to be formulated and, more importantly, sufficient funds have to be allocated to run programs to assist young
people. Many programs have been established. I refer to a media release sometime ago by the former Minister
for Youth, Linda Burney. I researched the document and about the only thing of any substance I could find
was a proposal for midnight basketball in Campbelltown and Armidale. While that is probably a very
worthwhile scheme and probably provides some activities for the youth in those areas, one would have to
question if there is not more that could be done for young people. We must do more. We should get out
and talk to the young people. It is no good old people making decisions for them; youth need to be
involved and be given real ownership so they feel that they are part of the 100 per cent for the Tweed.
Ms JODI McKAY (Newcastle) [4.07 p.m.]: I support the motion because I believe it is important that as a
government and as a community we should protect the innocence of children for as long as possible. I note the
contribution by the member for South Coast in regard to the Government's initiatives. The Minister for
Community Services mentioned one of those initiatives in the Chamber this week: the Government is backing
up an announcement by the Premier to support parents on the issue of body piercing and other forms of body art.
Parental consent relating to body piercing and other forms of body art is of particular concern to me. These
forms of body art have the potential to be disfiguring, to leave permanent scarring, to become infected and to
cause serious health problems.
Today the media obviously influences young people, and their peers also influence them. Both the members for
Mulgoa and for Tweed told the House their views on that matter. But it is important that the Iemma Government
is introducing measures that will back the authority of parents to say how, when and where their kids can get a
piercing or other forms of obscure body art. A parent came to see me and told me that her child came home with
a form of obscure body art for which parental consent was not required. I listened to her argument and believe
that most mums or dads would want to know if their children intended to be permanently scarred. That is what
we are talking about: permanent scarring.
I am also pleased to note that the Government's changes will mean that children under 16 years of age will now
require permission from a parent to have their body pierced. Piercing operators who flout the law will face fines
of up to $22,000 if they perform an intimate piercing procedure on a child. While I am concerned about the
obvious health risks associated with piercing, like most people I am appalled by the fact that a child can be
pierced in that manner with no questions asked. It is clearly inappropriate for a child under 16 years of age to
expose himself or herself to a stranger in the name of a fashion trend. I acknowledge that some tattooists and
piercers operate within stringent health guidelines and do the right thing. However, there are certainly cowboys
and that is what the Minister's announcement is all about. I congratulate the Premier and the Minister on these
initiatives to ensure that young people across New South Wales are protected from the influence of their peers
and, in some cases, the media.
Ms TANYA GADIEL (Parramatta—Parliamentary Secretary) [4.10 p.m.], in reply: I thank most members who
made contributions to this debate today. The member for South Coast gave probably one of the most bizarre
speeches I have heard in this place. She said that the State Government had no policies and that the motion was
poorly worded. She also said that it was ridiculous that the Government had made announcements about house
parties that had happened two years earlier and, therefore, it did not look after Corey. As I pointed out—through
a point of order—the member was incorrect because Corey is from Melbourne and the incident occurred in
Victoria.
The point was made that Corey's behaviour was truly unacceptable and he showed a lack of remorse. It is totally
inappropriate to popularise and reward him with an appearance on a reality television program such as Big
Brother and allegedly to pay him for it. I accept that young people make mistakes and most people will learn
from them. However, if a young person is rewarded with fame and money for having done something stupid, I
wonder what kind of example we are setting for our youth. The Leader of the Opposition interjected about
Corey being in his home. He was in his home and his parents own it, but he had a party without his parents'
permission. That was appalling behaviour. He even rejected telephone calls from his parents after they saw the
news broadcast about the incident. He said that he thought they would kill him, but so be it.
The member for Tweed also made an interesting contribution. As members are aware, I am the Parliamentary
Secretary and I know that many representations are made about this issue in the Tweed area, particularly during
school holidays. Locals say that insufficient police officers are available in the holidays. They are concerned
about young people and the parties they hold. Obviously the Government's initiatives are designed to assist
parents and young people if they hold a party and it gets out of control. I thank the members for Newcastle and
Mulgoa, who spoke passionately about this issue. The member for Mulgoa knows exactly where I am coming
from on this issue and the media's effect on children.
Question—That the motion be agreed to—put and resolved in the affirmative.
Motion agreed to.
The DEPUTY-SPEAKER: Order! It being almost 4.30 p.m., the House will proceed to Government business.