Defining Art in Australia

The New South Wales government is calling for a country-wide standard for the imaging of children in artworks. Community Services Minister Kevin Greene wrote to the Classification Board earlier this month:

"This is a complex issue and that's why we need to continue the debate to see how we can get clarity and consistency in the classification of artworks. The Government does not want to define what art is but we want to make sure that children are protected and images are not used inappropriately."

Of course it's defining art. Leave the government out of it. There are already plenty of laws prohibiting child pornography, and nobody has any objections to those, but meddling into what is and what is not appropriate when it comes to fine art is a slippery slope, leading to censorship, and loss of freedoms.

Wikipedia defines child pornography as follows:

Child pornography refers to material depicting children being sexually abused, in a state of undress, engaged in erotic poses or sexual activity. Children are sexually abused in the production of child pornography, particularly when sexual acts are photographed, and the effects of the abuse are compounded by the wide distribution of the photographs of the abuse.

Seems pretty clear to me. Censoring art is a slippery slope, leading to misperceptions and loss of freedoms. Adding further "clarifications" and "standards" are just political stunts. The simple act of photographing your child bare-bottomed on the Oriental rug could land you in jail as a sex offender if these wacky politicians have their way.

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