Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Is Senator Coonan aware of the decision by Commercials Advice Ltd—otherwise called CAD—on Thursday to allow an ad featuring Tim Flannery, the eminent Adelaide scientist, for the SolarShop in Adelaide, in which he said, ‘Climate change is the greatest threat facing humanity today’? Is the minister aware that the decision to allow the ad to go ahead was reversed on Friday because CAD said it was problematic? Can the minister say what the government’s view is of opinion being censored in advertisements on Australian television, particularly when it comes from such an eminent person as Dr Flannery? Is the minister aware of commercial considerations infesting decisions about private TV ads? Is there a market for what can and cannot be said by such an authority?