X
Tech

Abbott ums and ahs on filter

Opposition leader Tony Abbott yesterday expressed his views about the internet filter in a joint interview, following fresh on the heels of a report that Liberal MP Alex Hawke will be voting against the filter in parliament.
Written by Colin Ho, Contributor

Opposition leader Tony Abbott yesterday expressed his views about the internet filter in a joint interview, following fresh on the heels of a report that Liberal MP Alex Hawke will be voting against the filter in parliament.

"Well look... we haven't seen the legislation, okay, and we won't be seeing it for quite some time," said Abbott, "in principle, and this is just a personal view... I think that it makes sense to try to ensure that we don't have pornography of the worst kind coming into homes through the internet... without appropriate parental supervision and knowledge."

However the Opposition leader remained coy about his party's stance on the issue.

"So in principle I think that it is fair enough to try to ensure that Australian families are protected from the worst sorts of pornography. But we haven't seen the legislation. We don't know just how practical it is going to be and we'll have a position on this once we see the legislation," said Abbott.

Earlier this week Shadow communications minister Tony Smith, released a statement claiming that the coalition supported measures "to protect children from inappropriate content". The coalition expressed their doubt about the government's capacity to implement the filter successfully, describing it potentially "unmanageable" and called for an audit on the internet filter report.

Editorial standards