BANNED

During most of the 20th century Australia was one of the strictest censors in the western world. Most imported publications were closely inspected before being released, and Australia would frequently ban what was considered suitable reading in England, Europe and America.

During most of the 20th century, three pieces of legislation were used by Customs to ban publications coming into Australia: Section 52(c) of the Customs Act 1901 (blasphemous, indecent or obscene works or articles); Item 14A of the Second Schedule of Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations introduced in 1938 (literature unduly emphasising matters of sex or crime, or calculated to encourage depravity); and Item 14 of the Second Schedule of Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations introduced in 1921 (seditious publications).

First published in 1959 by Olympia Press, Paris, William Burroughs’ ‘Naked Lunch’ (sometimes ‘The Naked Lunch’) provides a fractured account of American homosexual and drug cultures in the 1950s. One of the most provocative and radical novels of the 20th century, it was banned as ‘hard-core pornography’ by Customs after an imported copy was seized at Port Adelaide in February 1960. ‘Naked Lunch’ was sent to the National Literature Board of Review in 1963 and 1967 after applications for its release were made by members of the public. On both occasions the censors unanimously agreed to retain the ban. However, they did not consider it a pornographic work and recommended the novel be made available to literary students and writers.

James Baldwin’s provocative novel ‘Another Country’, which explores inter-racial relationships in the United States in the mid-1950s, quickly became a bestseller after it was published in 1962. In August that year Customs seized an imported copy of the book for examination and, without the advice of the Literature Censorship Board, deemed it a prohibited import six months later. The Literature Censorship Board reported on the novel in May 1963. Although they agreed the author was ‘one of America’s leading writers’, his novel was ‘continually smeared with indecent, offensive and dirty epithets and allusions’. However, the Board believed that Baldwin had ‘a message and a reasoned point of view’ on race relations. It recommended the novel not be banned completely but made available to ‘the serious minded student or reader’. ‘Another Country’ was removed from the prohibited list following intense pressure and a review of banned titles in 1966.

Philip Roth’s bestselling novel ‘Portnoy’s Complaint’, which shocked and amused readers with its frank treatment of sexuality, was declared a prohibited import in Australia four months after its publication in 1969. The National Literature Board of Review recommended prohibition as the novel ‘exceeds the standards acceptable in the community today’. In 1970 Penguin Books Australia challenged Customs by publishing 75,000 copies of the book for local distribution. The publisher was found guilty under Victorian legislation but was only fined $100 plus costs. In New South Wales, bookshop owners and the publisher were taken to trial twice, but on both occasions the jury could not agree on a verdict. The charges were dropped in May 1971. ‘Portnoy’s Complaint’ was released the following month. With the Australian edition freely available in three states and one territory, Customs Minister Don Chipp thought it ‘absurd’ to maintain the prohibition on the imported edition. The novel was the last work of fiction taken to court in Australia.

‘There is no need to note any particularly objectionable scene or passage for the book is so full of them and the general writing so extremely coarse that one need only consider the general character and tone …’ Kenneth Binns, Chairman of the Commonwealth Literary Censorship Board, on 'Naked Lunch' by William Boroughs, 3 October 1963.