South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson says he welcomes the challenge from the Gamers 4 Croydon party at next year’s state election. Meanwhile, party founder David Doe says he is looking to expand his campaign beyond Croydon to enable all South Australians to show their support for an R18+ classification for games.
On Friday, David Doe kicked off his campaign against Atkinson at Adelaide’s Rundle Mall, securing the signatures required to officially register his political party. Doe says his aim is “to exert pressure on Atkinson, currently the only Attorney General voting ‘no’ against the introduction of an R18+ classification rating for videogames in Australia.”
Atkinson told News.com.au that he “welcomed Mr Doe’s challenge,” saying:
“The voters of Croydon will now be asked directly whether they want interactive games in which gamers score points by raping a mother and daughter, blowing themselves up, torturing human figures… killing people and taking drugs to improve their sporting prowess.”
Later, Atkinson responded to several readers’ comments on the same article, claiming that neither his nor the ALP’s defeat at the 2010 state election would not benefit the introduction of an R18+ classification.
“Former Liberal Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock supported my opposition to an R 18+ Classification for interactive games at a time when most Labor Attorneys-General wanted to introduce one and he sought the endorsement of Cabinet for his position,” Atkinson wrote. “Should I stop being Attorney-General, the opposition would, I predict, be taken up by the W.A. Attorney-General (Liberal) and at least two other Attorneys-General (Labor). Moreover, many Liberals in the State Parliament and at least one Liberal candidate in the forthcoming State election support my stand.”
Doe told Kotaku that he was “a little saddened” by Atkinson’s response to his challenge. However, he remains undaunted in the face of the Attorney-General’s obvious advantages and has vowed to take his campaign beyond the electorate of Croydon.
“He is hugely popular within his electorate,” says Doe, “and he will have not only superior brand recognition, but also a well-oiled political machine running his campaign.
“Over the weekend it became clear that we will need to run a candidate for the Legislative Council, so that gamers who do not live in the Croydon electorate will also be able to show their support by voting for our candidate in the upper house. And of course, we will be working on our preferences with the other major parties in the coming months, as well as providing some quick links to people’s Federal representatives so they can voice their concern at the requirement of unanimity between Attorneys-General to implement an R18+ classification rating with a view to getting that piece of legislation amended to only require a majority vote of Attorneys-General.
“And in amongst all that,” jokes Doe, “I’m going to try to continue to paint the inside of my house, and try to get my season’s batting average above zero, and my bowling average below sixty.”
thatdamnprinny
November 9, 2009 at 7:18 PM
Dear Mr. Atkinson,
Australia is NOT Playschool.
Signed,
Your #6 hater.
Report PermalinkRufusLives
November 9, 2009 at 8:43 PM
What I want to know (and I have asked this question on various forums, all the AGs and various other political and new agencies) is why has Atkinson never been taken to task for his blatant abuse of power/conflict of interest?
This man has publicly stated on many occasions that he will never support an R18+ classification for games due to personal opinion yet he is still allowed to participate in the decision making process where he has the power to veto any decision.
If he is discussing a national matter then he is duty bound to consider the national viewpoint.
I have never gotten an acceptable answer as to why this man can abuse his position to suit his personal crusade whereas if the PM tried to do something similar he would be crucified!
Report PermalinkLuke
November 9, 2009 at 9:15 PM
Sorry for being a smartarse here but how will winning the seat of croydon get the R rating introduced. the only way to get the rating is either someone pulls a miracle out the rear and manages to persuade Atkinson to change his mind or the current SA labor government get voted out and the libs put someone in who wants the rating. so i think the only was is if G4C ran for the state. Dont get me wrong i want the R rating introduced but i am a little confused on how this will work.
Report PermalinkTrjn
November 9, 2009 at 11:37 PM
Winning Croydon removes Atkinson from power. He loses the seat, he cannot hold the position of Attorney-General and is no longer an obstacle.
Of course, nobody could seriously think that it’s possible to dislodge him, from what little I know, he sits in one of the safest seats there are. We would need to move thousands of people into his electorate for the sole purpose of voting against him for it to work, and I’m pretty sure that’s voter fraud, or at the very least very wrong.
The real key to victory is changing the law so that instead of having unanimous approval by all state attorneys general, you just need majority approval. Then all of a sudden, we have debate, we have majority opinion and we have what we’re after.
Report PermalinkNegativeZero
November 9, 2009 at 11:38 PM
If a film was to feature graphic rape, then it would most likely be refused classification – and film has an X rating above and beyond the R18+!
Report PermalinkSpagman
November 10, 2009 at 12:34 AM
I’m sorry Mr Atkinson, just WHAT game is it that allows you to rape a mother and daughter?
Report PermalinkWiseHacker
November 10, 2009 at 9:01 AM
“The voters of Croydon will now be asked directly whether they want interactive games in which gamers score points by raping a mother and daughter, blowing themselves up, torturing human figures… killing people and taking drugs to improve their sporting prowess”
Seriously, I have to ask this…”Mr. Atkinson, where do you get this rubbish?” The very games you mention would not even fit in a X rating!
As for games where people get blown up, we have them already in the MA 15+ rating.
Report PermalinkAndrew Pang
November 10, 2009 at 11:22 AM
I completely support Gamers 4 Croydon’s efforts. I think you should put up a list of state and federal MPs who support an R18+ classification and closer to the election, put out a gamers “how to vote” card.
Atkinson’s position is that he doesn’t support R rated games because they contain rape, drugs, violence, etc. That means anybody who disagrees with him must be pro-rape, pro-drugs and pro-violence.
That is completely false. The fact is, the games he is talking about represent the extreme end of the spectrum. Most would be refused classification anyway.
Whereas gamers are only asking for equal treatment when classifying games as is currently given to movies. We aren’t asking for torture, drugs and rape. We’re talking about mainsteam games like Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead intended for an adult audience.
Report PermalinkCaptain Pajama Shark
November 10, 2009 at 12:06 PM
His voters need to be made aware that by taking the stance he has on the topic; He is actually allowing kids to play these games NOW!.
Report PermalinkGTA for anybody under 18?
Well that’s what he’s supporting currently.
RandomScrub
November 10, 2009 at 1:04 PM
I find Mr Atkinson’s comments about rape, torture and violence highly convtrived and sadly hollow, particularly when one considers his strong faith-based approach to politics.
Last time I read the Bible – both old and new testaments – I noted that it was comprised of stories of murder – patricide, matricide, infanticide, sex, rape, prostitution, damnation, fantastical entities, demonic beings,political persecution, miracles (qua ‘magic’) and yet these stories are freely promulgated under the banner of religion without an R18+ rating. Surely these themes are not appropriate for minors and I find it strange that we do not postpone the teaching of religion to children until they of an age where they are appropriately mature to deal with such gruesome imagery – not to mention concepts such as the transubstantiation of the eucharist!
Whilst the foregoing is written facetiously, my point is that there is a glaring contradiction in Australia when it comes to different forms of media and the rating systems applied to them with this policy contradiction made worse by a fundamental unwillingness on the part of Mr Atkinson to sway from his position largely because of his strong religious views.
He seems to have forgotten or simply ignored that he is a REPRESENTATIVE of all South Australians when it comes to addressing the issue of a national R18+ rating and is behaving in a profoundly undemocratic fashion with his refusal to let the matter be properly debated (ie: refusal to allow release of the discussion paper on the issue) being an example of this.
To quote Edmund Burke: “Bad laws are the worst form of tyranny” and the schizophrenic rating system in this country is certainly bad law.
Michael, it would aslo do you well to remember ‘vox populi vox dei’.
Report PermalinkFlyingPlantMonster
November 11, 2009 at 12:17 PM
Can 35,000 people or whatever please just vote for David Doe so we can we this malarkey over and done with. Gosh!
Report PermalinkGraham
November 18, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Doe needs to change his stance in order to win votes from non gamers. Basically he should be attacking the issue from a similar viewpoint as Atkinson, that being “Save our children”. This way Atkinson’s opposition to the R rating will be watered down. Atkinson’s viewpoint should be portrayed as being detrimental to children as the current system allows minors easy access to games that are already perhaps too graphic in terms of violence.
Shock the constituents into action by pointing out the flaws in the current system which make questionable games available to kids.
By introducing an R rating for games, adults will have a clearer (and legal) indication of games that are unsuitable for children. Current games that scrape into the M15+ category could be pushed into an R rating category and extreme games would still be denied classification (therefore no mother/daughter rape games).
By following this tact Doe’s solution will be more attractive and logical than Atkinson’s. It will annoy under 18 year old gamers somewhat but the reality is that those gamers don’t vote and its going to work out better for them in the long run anyway. Ultimately it will be the best solution.
A well timed Chaser episode would probably raise a little awareness around the time of the election. Providing of course it was watertight and didnt backfire. The hungry beast would also be another media avenue to look at.
Doe likely has no chance of winning, but perhaps he can pull votes away from Atkinson and distrubute them elsewhere on preference.
Perhaps Atkinson is a good politician in general, I dont really know much about him but it is clear to me that he is using sensationalist tactics to gain support for his cause. The reality is that he is letting his personal viewpoint cloud judgement on this matter and whilst conscience should always play a part in decisions, it should not be the only deciding factor. A decision that affects a whole country should not be allowed to come down to the personal opinion of one man, how can that ever be correct in a democratic society?
Report PermalinkBaz Mofo
December 10, 2009 at 11:01 PM
Hmmm… this time l4d2, Aliens vs Predators..next time Modern Warfare 3, Assassins Creed 3??? Will we only be allowed to play Barbies Horse Adventures in the future? Really does Atkinson think all gamers are 12 still? Is he prepared to accept responsibility for those individuals who are going to be violent regardless of where they plagiarise their behaviour from. I’m a gamer and love GOW2, L4D, Fallout, have not only horror, action, gore films in my collection and I don’t have any aggressive tendencies in the real world. If I’m pissed off with something an hour or two killing zombies or mutants is just the thing. Very soon game developers will not see Australia as a viable market if their product is just going to get banned. And really does any serious gamer want to play Rapelay. There is no facts or hard evidence supporting anything Atkinson says, trouble is (and I don’t know as a don’t live in Croyden) if he can convince the general constituancy that games are all like Rapelay then it will be a sad case of narrow-minded, ignorant, no hard facts, predujice dictating that one man’s opinion is superior to everyone elses. Welcome to democracy.
Report PermalinkJohn Real World
February 4, 2010 at 5:38 PM
Gamers, get off the couch and into the real world. You’ll be in your 50′s one day thinking, remember the days of playing Playstations & X box’s, fighting for the right to play adult games, its ridiclulous. How about some genuine life experience, adrenalin pumping, bone breaking real out door in the bush experience?
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