"A former rural journalist, Lyle Shelton is serving his second term as a Councillor on the Toowoomba City Council. He is a father of four young children and his interests include Australian Football, jogging, reading and public affairs."

Lyle also seems to forget his ongoing pastoral role with Toowoomba City Church. His objectivity would of course be skewed somewhat by charismatic evangelical christian background and views.

One trusts that he omitted to mention his religious affiliation in haste to inform readers of his AFL and jogging interests.

Lyle's account of condom use could well be accurate. I have read of estimates that if a woman has sex with many different partners over a 12mth period, she will have about a 30% chance of contacting an STD, even though she uses condoms.

However there would be a likelihood that prostitution will increase in future years. People are getting married at older ages, or not getting married at all. Cohabitation or de facto relationships are normally short lived, and if a male does not have much money, many women do not want to know about him. If he forms a relationship with a woman, she can decide to end the relationship for whatever reasons she chooses, and then claim most of his assets in a property settlement, leaving him broke.

So what will that male do?

CYNICAL about "cynical"... err.. you wouldn't happen to have a vested interest in the selling of female bodies for sex and $$$ would you ?

The ISSUE about the article is this: factual....or NOT !

Your cynicism has the 'ring' of vested interest dripping from every syllable.
What the heck does his Pastoral interest have to do with the factual or otherwise content of the article ? !

Have the Brits concluded as stated in the article ?
Have the Swedes changed the law for the same reasons ?
etc
etc.

He has referred to specific studies, LOOK at them ! and then judge.
Its been the same in Victoria, as was predicted by many astute observers, that legalizing does NOT stop the illegal practice, and his comments about other forms of illegal behavior absolutely apply.

TIM
a woman cannot obtain 'all his property' as easily as you suggest. The courts have to take into account length of time together, and how much each contributed to the marraige 'booty'.
My sis in law was married to a well heeled man and after it was clear that he was a violent psycho she left and after living together for about 3 yrs, she got $15,000 thats it. He had a nice home, which belonged to him b4 marraige.. she can't touch it mate. (no kids involved)

Cynical of Toowoomba may do well to reveal his background and views before embarking on their atheistic - holier than thou tirade. Lyle Shelton’s article is thoughtful and reasoned whatever its motivations.

For reference sake my background is Catholic; however I have encountered people for some of whom the sex industry is empowering for others disempowering and as such reserve judgement. Given that none of the people posting is likely a women currently in the sex industry, whatever is said is going to be a bit paternalistic.

One of the interesting by-products of brothel legislation in QLD is that two independent sex workers can not legally share a premise and by so doing give each other a margin of safety.

The real people who need to be heard in this debate are those currently in the sex industry and not those (either in or out of the industry) cynically making money from doing the talk circuit promoting views either for or against.

Cynical of Toowoomba,

Ever heard of the 'genetic fallacy'?

That's when someone dismisses your argument or statement not based on what that statement contains, but rather in terms of somthing you dont like about the person making the statements. This is very poor thinking and hopefully most people will see through it. Who cares if Mr Shelton is a member of Church? Would you have the same objection against a Muslim Imam, or a Buhddist monk? Or what if an Atheist presented the same points? Do you dispute any of the evidence presented in his article? If so then lets hear it.

Dear Critics,

1. No income from any sex industry comes into my household or my pocket. I'm open to offers from any potential donors, but the opinion and integrity are not for sale.

2. A person's background *does* skew their view. Cr Shelton was quick to mention AFL and jogging, but in the profile for the piece, omitted his church links. Considering his high degree of activity in the church regarding his opinions on matter of sexuality, I thought that he did not present an objective picture of his background, and that a more accurate picture of the author required this knowledge.

3. BOAZ David, "factual" is very polarising. Spin is involved. Knowledge of the direction from which an author comes, will help readers discern how facts are presented.

4. Zephyrus just blew in, from where? PKB.

5. Director123, *I* care. If Shelton was a prostitute, a policeman, a john or a fetishist, it would colour his presentation; what he revealed, emphasized, neglected....