Mayor asserts his personal morality is above the law: New South Wales

Large club, Spain

How many laws would most mayors feel free to defy on the grounds that they personally don’t agree with them? What’s striking in this Australian story is the politician’s ease in announcing his defiance as a virtuous, moral stand. Apparently he does not fear any authority might insist that he respect the law. His disapproval may not be for prostitution itself but for the size of a brothel – big enough to employ 50 sex workers. It’s a weak moral ground that feels okay about something when it’s small and discreet and repulsed when it’s big and visible. The above picture shows a large sex club somewhere in Spain

Tweed mayor slams super brothel

Samantha Turnbull, 18 February 2010, ABC.net

Tweed Shire mayor Warren Polglase and several of his fellow councillors have voiced their opposition to a proposed brothel in South Tweed Heads. The planned development has been dubbed a ‘super’ brothel because it will employ 50 sex workers in an industrial building that occupies 300 square metres. Cr Polglase was unashamed to admit he objected to the proposal on moral grounds.

“Lots of these issues are more to do with your own personal conscience,” he said. “The argument would be, well the legislation says you must approve them if they meet the requirements in certain areas. But my personal opinion and principles are that I will not support that kind of thing and what cost do you put your principles at?”

Janelle Fawkes from Australian sex workers association the Scarlett Alliance said it was not the first time a local government body had objected to a brothel based on moral rather than planning issues. “It’s a problem we’re experiencing all around New South Wales,” she said. “Unfortunately what we’re seeing around the state is local councils acting up in this exact way we’ve heard the mayor describe. Sex industry businesses are legitimate businesses in New South Wales. Sex workers have the right to safe work environments and councils need to be making decisions based on amenity impact and planning grounds, not on moral attitudes.”

Ms Fawkes said Tweed Shire councillors should not be judging sex workers for their choice of career path. These are people, this is a workplace where people have the right to good occupational health and safety standards and that’s one of the roles that council should be playing – not this attitude that is really based on fear, misunderstanding and misconceptions,” she said. “Many people are studying, many have another part-time job, many are mothers. Sex workers are part of the community and we deserve to be treated the same as everyone else. I’m afraid what I’m hearing from your mayor and councillors is discrimination against sex industry workers and businesses.”

3 thoughts on “Mayor asserts his personal morality is above the law: New South Wales

  1. Marc of Frankfurt

    Prostitution still is so power full (= sex + money),

    that some will degenerate to natural justice or god imposed morality laws instead of hard-won democratic standards or evidence based principles of modern secularised societies…

    This unveils that morality is only and all about a power game (sexual politics). A morality gradient form celibacy to prostitution is being created to foster (non-sexual and possibly sustainable) businesses and stabilize hierarchy.

    Reply
  2. Thaddeus Blanchette

    Odd that 50 prostitutes constitute a superbrothel in Australia. I’d love to Polglase on a tour around Vila Mimosa some day. Or, hell, the (now closed) Help, which concentrated up to 500 sex workers per night during the high season.

    Reply

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