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R/£ Australian MPs' inquiry into chef's TV cursing
June 20, 2008 Edition 3
CANBERRA (Australia): Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's advice for those who don't like him swearing on TV: switch the channel.
Ramsay, a top-ranking British chef who has become an international television star known for expletive-laden tirades directed at kitchen underlings, became the subject of a parliamentary inquiry in Australia after a lawmaker objected to his prime-time cursing.
A Senate panel this week rejected calls to ban certain swear words on Australian TV because community attitudes did not seem opposed to them.
But the senators also made a series of recommendations aimed at helping viewers avoid bad language on TV.
This morning, Ramsay, who is currently visiting Australia, told Nine Network TV there is no need to tighten broadcast regulations because of him.
"Turn over (the TV channel); isn't it easier?" he said in an interview peppered with profanities.
"I don't mean to swear, it's just the muppets I have to work with sometimes," he added, using a slang term for a stupid person. "It's high pressure, high energy and, more importantly, real - that's how we keep it every day," he said.
The Senate inquiry focused on the series Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, produced by the celebrity chef in the US and Britain and screened in Australia by top rated Nine.
The inquiry was initiated by opposition Sen Cory Bernardi who said "there is no excuse for gratuitous bad language to be broadcast repeatedly" when it could be "beeped out".
The eight senators on the committee said in their report they would not recommend any additional broadcast restrictions on the swear words.
"In the absence of an overwhelming community consensus that particular words be banned altogether, the committee does not believe it is appropriate to make any recommendations with regard to imposing additional limits," the report said.
There are already rules that prevent such words being used on Australian TV before 8:30pm and requiring "coarse language" warnings be shown when such programmes begin.
But the report recommended technology that would enable parents to block out programmes that are unsuitable for children become standard for all digital televisions sold in Australia. - Sapa-AP
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