D-Day For South Australian Voters Tomorrow

Pro R18+ party Gamers4Croydon do battle with the Atkinson empire tomorrow. How successful will they be?

“We really don’t know,” says David Doe, of Gamers4Croydon. “We don’t have the same resources available to do a pre-election poll. I tend not to pay attention to the major party polls, but people have been stopping us out of nowhere and asking for “How to Vote” cards, so that’s encouraging.”

Of course, Atkinson’s hold on the area is deemed one of the stronger reigns. And naturally, a win would be preferable. But in this case, is a win the same as victory?

“The idea was to pressure the Attorneys-General, so they know this is actually an issue that people care about. I think we’ve done that. This is also an opportunity to let people vote outside the major parties, meaning if you’re interested in your civil liberties, and being able to consume whatever content you want as an adult, you can have your say rather than just picking the worse of two options.”

A deal with the Greens may make things easier for conflicted South Australian voters, and Gamers4Croydon has also received support from the Australian Sex Party and Pirate Party.

With some saying that the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General might not even take the matter of an R18+ rating for games seriously, perhaps a better-than-expected turnout for G4C is just what the doctor ordered.

“Being an election period, some people have gone soft on the issue. Others are very upfront about it. Some are sitting on the fence and I understand why they’re doing that, they’re using the Croydon campaign as a litmus test, as to whether they should make their mind up on the rating or not.

“We’ve been contacting as many other non-G4C candidates as we can, so they realise how big of an issue it is. We’ll also be gathering their views on the issue and posting them up on our Facebook page.

“SA is a very conservative state. In SA shops, R rated movies now need to be in a separate section, marked Restricted. Were games to be allowed a similar rating, they too would be separate from the children-friendly content. Most people that we’re able to sit down and talk with in a civil manner see the sense in this.”

Stay tuned for info on the election.

[Gamers4Croydon]