According to the editor of Art Monthly, its latest cover is an effort to "restore dignity" to the discourse about the artistic portrayal of children. To its critics, including the Australin (sic) Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, it is "disgusting". What it has achieved is to bring to the boil a simmering row over the difference between art and pornography in a country with a long tradition of censorship.
Even so - ambiguous pre-teen posing has been a fine art staple for a while. People like Sally Mann have made careers out of it, with the inevitable controversy, etc.
It's one of the few ways you can still successfully shock and horrify the middle classes without being theatrical and ridiculous.
