Richard Pratt’s ex mistress Madison Ashton rejects online safety laws for sex business
Former mistress of late billionaire Richard Pratt and soft porn star Madison Ashton has objected to proposed new laws on online safety.
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Exclusive: Former mistress of late billionaire Richard Pratt and soft porn star Madison Ashton has objected to proposed new laws on online safety, saying it will push the sex industry to the dark web.
Ms Ashton — aka Christine McQueen — advertises her services of glamour nude photography, soft porn, previews and movie trailers of her online subscription content and advertises her “tour dates” across Australia on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and her own website.
But the new laws, known as Part 9, mean Ms Ashton can’t tell her clients – who reportedly include judges, politicians, scientists, influential business leaders, religious ministers, philanthropists and doctors – about her “tour dates” through her social media accounts.
Ms Ashton, a self-described pornographer and content creator, said the laws will ban the use on social media and the internet of soft porn images of herself and others such as movie stars like Marilyn Monroe.
Her submission, written by lawyer Zali Burrows to the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications which is oversighting the new bill, also warns adult service customers will be pushed towards the dark web.
The submission said the new laws are “effectively criminalising the advertising of sex glam services, bankrupting an entire Australian industry, promoting use of the dark web, and offending the implied freedom of political speech.”
The new Online Safety Bill aims to improve online safety but it has given broad, discretionary powers to the eSafety commissioner.
After initial consultation in 2019, the federal government released the draft bill last December and called for public submissions.
Almost 200 submissions about the proposed changes have been received and published including many from sex industry workers, but Ms Ashton’s submission has not been made public despite repeated requests.
A spokesman for the Department of Infrastructure said Ms Ashton’s submission was received and her views were considered as part of the development of the Online Safety Bill.
He said the submission was not uploaded to the department’s website due to an administrative error but they are “working to remedy this oversight”.
Ms Burrows said that “Ms Ashton’s clients include current and retired judges, politicians, scientists, influential business leaders, religious ministers, philanthropists, doctors, and so on. These clients are the ‘model citizens’ of Australia, and the next tier below are the influential clients such as celebrities, actors, lawyers, and importantly the next generation of thousands of teenage boys, Australia’s future influencers and leaders.”
Ms Ashton said the biggest problem with the bill is that the framework lacks so much detail and is so opaque it has no provisions for commercial services.
Ms Ashton said she needs a platform to advertise her services. “I am not a librarian. I have to show people this what you get for your money.”
The submission said platforms such as Twitter already have rules of enforcement, and proactively remove offensive content, illegal and terrorist content, violent extremism, and child sexual exploitation.
Ms Ashton said the issue of online nude pictures should not be so complicated.
“You shouldn’t be able to publish without a release form. Simple, no consent – no publishing.”
The office of the eSafety Commissioner declined to comment while the legislation was still before the parliament.
However, it has previously made it clear it doesn’t intend to stifle the sex industry.
A spokesman said Australia’s Online Content Scheme had been in place for 20 years and for that entire period, the hosting of explicit adult sexual content had been prohibited in Australia.
He said eSafety’s priorities would continue to be the removal of child sexual abuse material as well as material that incites, instructs or promotes terrorism or violent crime.
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