The State Government has stated the WA community strongly supports decriminalisation of prostitution, despite concerns from Busselton president Wes Hartley. The statement comes from John Hyde, Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-General, in response to Cr Hartley's comments in last week's Council Chair column in the Mail about the WA Prostitution Amendment Act.

In his column, Cr Hartley warned legislation introduced to New Zealand had led to an increase in prostitution and police data provided ample evidence of the exposure of many young people and children to prostitution and parents using their family home as a brothel.

Mr Hyde said the independent review of New Zealand's legislation showed no marked increase in prostitution. "Misinformation about the legislation continues to be peddled on non-planning grounds" he said. "Family homes in WA residential areas cannot be used as brothels. It is regrettable that ill-informed people are peddling this misinformation".

Scarlet Alliance secretary Meg Marshall also reiterated the New Zealand report showed nothing to support Cr Hartley's claims that children of sex workers were significantly exposed to prostitution. The Scarlet Alliance is the Australian Sex Workers Association.

"Sex working parents are parents like any other" Ms Marshall said. "Just as most parents would not discuss their sex lives with their children or allow them to be present during a sex act, nor would sex working parents".

"In fact, the majority of children of sex workers are completely unaware of their parent's occupation" Ms Marshall said.

"If anything, the new laws decrease the potential for children to be present where sex work is conducted, as it increases parents' ability to separate their home life from their working life".

Mr Hyde said the WA Government would not permit brothels in residential areas.

"Brothels may be permitted use in light industrial areas and councils would have discretion to permit brothels in commercial areas” he said. “Though planning issues such as closeness to schools, churches or al fresco café areas would be solid ground for councils to reject a brothel in a commercial area after proper consultation with their community”.

Mr Hyde said if local councils’ home occupation policies allowed self-employed mortgage brokers, accountants or wedding planners to work from home, those council’s town planning scheme would also continue to allow a person employed in the sexual services industry to work from home.

“However, if more than two sexual services people are working from a place, it must be defined as a brothel and thus becomes illegal in residential areas” he said. “The vast majority of individual sex workers may take a booking from a telephone in their home office, like a self-employed real estate agent, but they visit a client in a hotel”.

Cr Hartley also signalled his intention to present a notice of motion at the council meeting on June 11 to amend the Shire of Busselton Town Planning Scheme to define ‘Adult Entertainment’ and in turn, not permit any Adult Entertainment facilities within the Shire of Busselton.

Mr Hyde said the new Act already defined what a brothel was.

“Corrupt business operators and naïve councils will not be able to redefine a brothel as ‘adult entertainment’” he said. “Local councils that have diligently tried to close down badly run brothels previously, understand that the new legislation will actually allow them to close down a brothel quickly and effectively”.