Adams Paul: Prostitution Reform Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Adams Paul: Prostitution Reform Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:607;Page:4478] 
PAUL ADAMS (United Future) 
: 
 I have been listening to this debate and to be honest I am a pastor so I am a Christian. I am a man of God so therefore I am a shepherd of people and I must commend the various speakers from the various viewpoints on this bill because this has been an excellent debate. I do appreciate the various viewpoints that have come into it. But I have learnt that in life there is relationship between cause and effect and I am very concerned at the breakdown of the family unit in this nation. 
I want to address the issue of prostitution from a man’s perspective because I am the father of two boys and two girls. I know that sex is wonderful; it is one of my favourite pastimes. I love sex. But I have learnt that whereas I as a man love sex my wife enjoys lovemaking and there is a vast difference between the two. I am probably more concerned in the society I live in for my boys breaking into immorality than for my girls doing so because a man is attracted by the gaze of his eye. That which he sees with his eye attracts him so that is why when we see girls in the industry we are discussing we should not be surprised that they are dressed to attract men. Women on the other hand love to be loved and unfortunately because of the moral decline in our nation that is an art that we men are beginning to lose. 
I have dealt with many girls who had gone into prostitution as they have endeavoured to come out of it and I appreciate Georgina Beyer’s honesty about the memories and the pictures that are in her mind. I have a past life that I am not proud of and I also know what it is to live with pictures in my mind of things I am no longer proud of or pleased to have been involved with. To change the pictures in one’s mind is extremely difficult and can be extremely painful. 
This is a conscience vote and I appreciate that. So I looked up the definition of “conscience” in the dictionary. Firstly the dictionary states that it is a moral sense of right and wrong. Of course I realise that many people will have a problem right there because I have heard that said. But prostitution is a moral issue whatever way we want to look at it. Many people are of the opinion that nothing is morally right or wrong any more. In fact even the mention of the word “moral” sets alarm bells ringing for them. However I did not write the dictionary so let us look at some other definitions that may be less offensive to them. We see the second definition states that “conscience” is a consciousness that one’s actions are right or wrong. To me that goes way beyond what may be a personal viewpoint or preference. To me it means that when I am really honest with myself in thinking the situation through in the case we are currently dealing with I would have to ask myself whether this industry would be good for my wife daughter or granddaughter to be involved in. 
Many of those who are supporting this bill say they would not like their own daughters or granddaughters to go into the prostitution industry. Therefore if that is what they are saying and they are truly going on the basis of their conscience they would have to vote against this bill. I think that is an important issue because so often in this world we come to matters of opinion. As a Christian I am thankful that I do have a God in heaven who has given me an instruction manual that clearly lays out the principles for life. He is not one who restricts because he is oppressive. Totally to the contrary of that he is one who gives graciously. But just as even in this House we have a Speaker to keep it in order and if we chose to ignore that authority figure we would just end up with chaos so in the world we live in there is a moral code to protect us from ourselves and our own fleshly desires which I personally know can be very very strong. The sex drive in men is one of the strongest drives we have to fight against and that is why many men with pornography on the Internet and all those other things are having a great amount of trouble.