Brown Peter: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Brown Peter: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:630;Page:2456] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 It with some regret that I rise to speak on this because I would dearly love to get involved in transport issues. I read the financial review of the Department of Internal Affairs—the report by the Government Administration Committee—and I recognise that some good points were made about the department. I will put them on the  
Hansard 
 record: “For the 2004/05 financial year the Office of the Auditor-General issued an unqualified audit opinion on the financial statements of the department. For 2004/05 the department received an ‘excellent’ rating for its financial control systems and its financial management control environment.” That is high praise indeed. The report goes on to explain—and I welcome this because not many people understand it—why a passport has increased in cost from $71 to $150. A reasonable explanation is given in this report. 
What concerns me is an issue that the Government Administration Committee did not pick up and that the Minister—and I have to say the Minister before him—failed to address: the reappointment of the Film and Literature Board of Review. Currently eight of the nine members are out of time not only by a day or a month but by nearly 2 years. That is more than an oversight—that is a reflection on the competence or the genuineness of the Minister and the ministry. I say to the Minister that this issue should have been addressed months ago. 
What this country needs—because it is a very important board which does not get into the limelight—is a board made up of decent law-abiding stable people who understand the ill effects on young people or on those with impressionable minds who get access to what I would call “garbage” movies. I understand that a number of people have put their names forward to the Minister and the ministry to serve on this board and not one of them—if my current information is correct—has received a personal acknowledgment. The Minister is on record as saying that members will be appointed by April but judging by the way these boards have been appointed in the past he does not have a dog’s show. In previous times the ministry has sent out quite a comprehensive document to those who are interested or who have put their names forward to serve on this board. But thus far the current applicants have received nothing—not a single word acknowledgment or indication that they may or may not be considered. 
The Minister might ask why this is so important. Well we were told in the media only this morning or maybe yesterday morning that the rate of violence in this country is up. We were told by the Minister of Police this afternoon that the rate of violence has gone up principally because of domestic violence in this country. In my hand I have a number of censors’ reports on DVDs and VHSs that are readily available to people over the age of 18. I have not read these reports; they are sickening. I have glanced through some areas and without exception they portray incidents and events that dehumanise and degrade women and revolting scenarios. They are absolutely revolting. And these are getting past the censor. Frankly the members of the Film and Literature Board of Review know that their time is up and they are not showing the right amount of initiative. I seek leave to table a dozen or so censors’ reports on these DVDs and VHSs that have been released and that people over the age of 18 can get. 
Documents by leave laid on the Table of the House.