Let’s have a frank debate about sex
HOLD on to your pearls, this news might come as a shock.
According to a discussion paper released yesterday by the Labor Government, Darwin has a thriving illegal sex industry.
Turns out a lot of those late night massage parlours operating off the CBD’s seedier arcades and laneways might actually be brothels.
At the moment, brothels are illegal in the Territory, meaning the people working in them are breaking the law.
Sex workers are free to work independently or from licensed escort agencies – of which there are currently none – but they have to do so from clients’ homes or from hotels.
It’s also illegal for solo sex workers to work in pairs, to solicit in public or to employ drivers, security guards or receptionists, bringing obvious safety risks.
And those who do choose to operate within the law from licensed escort agencies have to register – for life – with police as sex workers. Natural hair and eye colour are logged, as well as details of next of kin ON THE NT NEWS SPECIAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE DECRIMINALISATION OF SEX WORK IN THE TERRITORY
Pragmatic decision. Stephen McGreevy Jobs and growth? Adrian Ross
Once Worksafe gets in their prices will go through the roof and the job will never get done. Hayden Lovett Lindsey ON CHIPS MACKINOLTY’S CALLS FOR TERRITORIANS TO HELP FIX THE POPULATION CRISIS and descriptions of tattoos.
Some former sex workers have had the repercussions of being on that register follow them for decades, including being used against them in family court matters.
It’s little wonder most choose instead to work outside the law, trading off their legal and workplace protections for at least some safety against poWe need less people, not more! Jim Willis
@Jim Willis spot on Jim. Quality of life has declined since the gas boom. Jamie Lewis
Just asked a couple of people in the pub –neither had got their Medicare cards up to date – and one had been here five years. I told them to pull heir fingers out. Ari Corcoran
Good to see ole mate’s still with us...haven’t heard much of him since the ‘hand-over’ days of Nitmiluk N P. Ray Medlicott The greater Darwin area has a population of around 140,000 tentially violent clients.
This is another policy area the NT is lagging far behind most Australian jurisdictions.
The confusing, ineffective and retrograde act regulating sex work in the Territory has been virtually untouched since it came into effect in 1992.
Decriminalising sex work is a no-brainer and Labor is to be commended for pushing ahead with what some will think of as controversial reform.
Attorney-General Natasha Fyles has made it clear this is not a conversation about the morality or otherwise of transactional sex, but about choosing the best decriminalised model for the Territory.
Even those who oppose sex people. It has an economy that can only substantially look after a population of around 30 to 40 thousand people the same as the Pilbara area. George Chambers
Promote the world-class hospital in Darwin? William Walker ON THE NATIONAL CONTROVERSY OF A SPECTATOR EATING A MEAT PIE AT THE FOOTY WITH A FORK
Is there nothing else out there to report? Anthony Evans Lift the lid off, eat meat with a spoon, plenty of sauce, and eat the crust last. Judy Flash Lambert
It’s un-Australian to criticise the way someone eats a pie. We’re a multicultural society of pie-eaters from all demographics. Dale Dug A Hole here
Lol I cut the lid off, put sauce in the meat, mix it around and eat it with a fork then eat the case and then the lid last. Prue Coyle
Take the lid off and eat it. Spoon the meat into my mouth. Eat the case. Siobhan Legge
As a man with a “monumental beard” I cannot eat a pie like an Australian...I have accepted that fact many years ago. ScottCath Minge Should be a spoon, Not a fork. Sherryl Cook Got to rip the top off, make sure no mice etc inside. Clarkie Clarke ON THE HOBART HURRICANES JOINING THE TERRITORY’S STRIKE LEAGUE IN ONE OF THE NT’S BIGGEST SPORTS COUPS
@Virginia Melville Bring the boys up for the game. Lauren Ross
Lauren Ross Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen! Virginia Melville