In an interview with ARN‘s David Ramli, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy, stated that he supports the introduction of an R18+ rating for video games. It’s arguably unsurprising considering the Federal Government announced their support prior to the SCAG meeting in December, but it’s always positive to hear politicians in the public sphere agree that an adult rating is the way forward for video game classification in this country. Even if the support does come with a caveat.
One of the major Australian talking points here at Kotaku, especially over the last year, has been the increase of online importing and its impact on games retail. After Gerry Harvey and other retailers railed against online shopping and its effect on the Australian economy, it seems the issue has been made a real priority by the Government, who have announced an Online Retail Forum to “discuss the opportunities and challenges that exist for Australian retailers in the digital economy.”
Ever wondered what it would be like to be responsible for censorship in Australia? An amusing new indie game lets you wear the shoes of Stephen Conroy and Michael Atkinson and take aim at the many “harmful” websites and video games trying to infiltrate our nation.
Tax cuts for Australian game developers. It’s not a big ask, and certainly a justified one; the industry rakes in around $136 million a year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We know the last federal government had little interest in the idea, and that Labor senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, promised a committee on the matter if his party was elected. It was.
It seems the Game Developers Association of Australia and the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia want to make sure our current government continues to investigate the issue and as such, the two organisations have joined forces.
Said Tom Crago, Tantalus CEO and GDAA president:
“Australian game developers cannot be expected to be internationally competitive when global market conditions are ‘not level’. We owe it to the companies themselves to offer these incentives and we also need to make an investment into Australia’s ‘smart economy’.”
We know how awesome tax rebates have been for game developers in other countries, so there are no problems as far as logic is concerned. The government just needs to get its act together.
Full release after the jump.
Yes, Australia’s new Minister for Communications, Broadband and the Digital Economy is Senator Stephen Conroy. The same Senator Conroy that promised Labor would assemble a committee to discuss the potential for a 40% tax rebate for Oz game developers. A rebate the film and television industry already enjoys.
This exciting bit of news was announced yesterday, and the Game Developers’ Association of Australia (GDAA) couldn’t be happier.
Said GDAA CEO Greg Bondar:
“The GDAA now looks forward to working with Senator Conroy to progress the establishment of a high level committee to review the GDAA’s call for a 40% tax rebate for the games industryâ€
Now, let’s pray that this was one of Labor’s core promises.
Full GDAA press release after the jump.
