FEDERAL education minister Julia Gillard says allowing a photographer to scout out a primary school playground for nude models would send a shudder down people's spines.
Photographer Bill Henson, whose portraits of naked teenagers sparked outrage earlier this year, says he checked out a Melbourne primary school, accompanied by the principal, to find models for his work.
Ms Gillard said today she was shocked by the revelation when it came out yesterday.
"To find out now that someone has been allowed to go into a school to look at children I think would send a shudder through people's spines," Ms Gillard told the Nine Network.
She said no one should be on school grounds unless they were there for a legitimate purpose relating to the education of young people.
The Victorian Government has announced an investigation into the incident.
Ms Gillard said child protection was primarily a matter for the states and did not indicate the Federal Government would be taking action over the incident, although she said governments were working on a national child protection framework.
She criticised Henson's nude photographs, which were removed from an art gallery earlier this year but later returned.
"I found the images disturbing, I was very concerned about them," she said.
Ms Gillard sought to attack federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull over comments he made earlier in the year in relation to the Henson issue, in defence of artistic freedom.
"I also note the leader of the Opposition seems to have changed his mind from earlier this year on this matter, earlier this year he was more in the artistic freedom camp, saying he himself owned Henson works," she said.
"But I'm glad to see that he has joined with the Government on this occasion to say that it is a disturbing incident."
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