New porn laws Down Under confuse travellers

SYDNEY - Travellers to Australia are in bewilderment over what sort of porn they’re allowed to bring into Australia, which has prompted a reworking of incoming passenger cards.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor said he had asked the Customs and Border Protection command 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,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted O’Connor as saying.

“That has now been amended to read ‘illegal pornography’,” he said.

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.

“Customs officers operate with discretion and the penalties for failing to declare a prohibited import are steep,” said O’Connor.

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 has claimed credit for the changes.

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.

“They were made to display a nude photo of themselves in a line with all these other people; they were so embarrassed,” he said. (ANI)