Atkinson’s Successor Named – Pro R18+?

14 years ago

March 24, 2010 at 7:20 pm

Gamepron reports that Mike Rann, who remains SA Premier after the recent election, has announced his new cabinet with John Rau in the position of Attorney-General. Michael Atkinson, long opposed to an R18+ rating for video games in Australia, decided to step down from the Attorney-General position after winning his election over the weekend, but will remain on the back bench until 2014. As for his stance on R18+…

Chris Prior of the Gamers4Croydon party has this to say on his Twitter:

New SA Attorney-General is John Rau, a supporter or the R18+ classification for games (and a nice guy, to boot)

Comments

49 responses to “Atkinson’s Successor Named – Pro R18+?”

READ THE COMMENTS

Doddy

March 24, 2010 at 6:52 pm

Need more info on his thoughts!!!

Reply
andy

March 24, 2010 at 6:53 pm

has kotaku tried to contact him?

might be interesting to see what his stance is.

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Andrew Hobbs

March 24, 2010 at 7:06 pm

Chris Prior’s twitter states that Rau is for the rating.

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Jeremy Elphick

March 24, 2010 at 7:07 pm

According to Chris Prior’s (Gamers4Croydon) twitter, he’s a supporter of R 18+ games.

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Scott Zapper

March 24, 2010 at 7:09 pm

is it just me or does he look like Michael Atkinson’s younger more attractive brother

i could be wrong

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1. Gavin Kelly
  
  March 24, 2010 at 7:33 pm
  
  When I read this I got a mental picture of them both in high school: Steve was always the popular jock who went out with all the hottest cheerleaders, while Michael was the gangly hall monitor and captain of the chess club…
  
  Reply
  1. Gavin Kelly
    
    March 24, 2010 at 7:35 pm
    
    Where did I get steve from? I mean John obviously..
    
    Reply
    1. Steve
      
      March 24, 2010 at 8:45 pm
      
      you got him from me.
      
      Reply
  2. Michael Rowlands
    
    March 24, 2010 at 8:13 pm
    
    The thing is, most of us here would have been, or still are, gangly hall monitors and captains of chess clubs 😉
    
    Reply
    1. Darius
      
      March 25, 2010 at 11:04 am
      
      what evs dweeb
      
      Reply
  3. who am iiiiii
    
    March 24, 2010 at 8:26 pm
    
    Jock… cheerleaders… so he went to highschool in america?
    
    Reply
    1. Gavin Kelly
      
      March 25, 2010 at 12:07 am
      
      In my mind, yes. I blame it on a childhood full of clichéd 80’s movies about karate and time-travel
      
      Reply
  4. Dave
    
    March 24, 2010 at 9:21 pm
    
    Being captain of the Chess team was one of my favourite things about school! 😀
    
    Reply
2. Matthew Anderson
  
  March 24, 2010 at 10:15 pm
  
  At least he doesn’t have the paedophile-smile.
  
  Reply
  1. Naytan
    
    March 29, 2010 at 6:58 pm
    
    +1000
    
    Reply
Matt

March 24, 2010 at 7:12 pm

according to a twitter tweet he supports R18+ and is a nice guy, i think we have found our jesus 😀

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1. Matthew Anderson
  
  March 24, 2010 at 10:16 pm
  
  Yeah, and this guy actually exists. And he’s not some shonky builder either!
  
  Reply
Sam Timmins

March 24, 2010 at 7:13 pm

Hoping his love for books has more influence on his decisions than his kids do!

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1. Matthew Anderson
  
  March 24, 2010 at 10:17 pm
  
  An intellectual? Oh, mercy, we are saved!!!!
  
  Reply
  1. ERRR
    
    March 25, 2010 at 7:26 pm
    
    An intellectual…? That’s just down right unaustralian!
    
    Reply
Korwin

March 24, 2010 at 7:18 pm

Dude kind of looks like the Canadian PM… lets hope he’s not as conservative as the Canadian PM.

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1. StudiodeKadent
  
  March 25, 2010 at 2:29 pm
  
  Not all self-labelled “conservatives” are socially conservative (i.e. anti-gay, anti-drug, anti-games, pro-religion).
  
  The Canadian PM certainly can’t be called anti-gay, and Canada’s marijuana laws have been loosenned up recently.
  
  “Conservative” is a very broad label which means different things in different countries. Even in one country, lets take the US as an example, there are many different types of “conservative” and all of them disagree with each other. You have everyone from Cato-Institute-style Libertarians (or classical liberals) to hardcore Christian Coalition types. And they agree with each other on basically nothing.
  
  “Conservatism” is an electoral coalition at best. It is not any ideological commonality. It basically refers to “anyone that the academic left does not like.”
  
  Reply
Joshy206

March 24, 2010 at 7:40 pm

I found this, a question Rau asked Atkinson years ago in parliament:

My question is to the Attorney-General. Can the Attorney-General inform the house whether he will support moves to introduce an R rating classification for computer games sold in Australia, or will games that are unsuitable for minors continue to be refused classification?

Now, not to get my hopes up too high, he does sound critical of the lack of an R18.

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1. Matt
  
  March 24, 2010 at 8:16 pm
  
  @Joshy206 – don’t forget they’re on the same team so being critical wasn’t an option. Reads like he was trying to save face whilst appealing to the youngsters. A nothing question, really.
  
  Reply
Dilbert

March 24, 2010 at 8:06 pm

theyve still got to convince the other attorney generals, contrary to popular belief there were other attorney generals that weren’t sure about 18+

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1. Mannon
  
  March 24, 2010 at 9:04 pm
  
  Hopefully the overwhelming support from the discussion paper submissions will sway any who are on the fence.
  
  Reply
2. alinos
  
  March 24, 2010 at 9:40 pm
  
  yup but the thing is do they want to cop the flak that atkinson caught
  
  atkinson was there bulletproof armor they knew hed never fold so there views on it were basically irrelevant
  
  though now if they want to prevent the R18+ rating theyll have to come out of the shadows which can mean G4C can become Lets try and get all friendly AG’s
  
  although i still believe the fact that we need a unanimous ruling from them must really be conteractive to them doing things of a countrywide scale
  
  Reply
3. Mic
  
  March 24, 2010 at 9:53 pm
  
  As far as I’m aware, the only person claiming such was Atkinson himself. Somehow I can’t help but doubt that.
  
  Reply
4. kaiden
  
  March 24, 2010 at 9:58 pm
  
  but they’ll vote whichever way makes them look good. all the blame went to atkinson, and i dont think people want to see a repeat of that.
  
  Reply
5. Matthew Kermeen
  
  March 24, 2010 at 10:32 pm
  
  This was a farication crafted by Atkinson. The other A-Gs were previously pro R18+ (a couple were pretty outspoken about it) but kept quiet about it in the leadup to the discussion paper because they didn’t want anyone looking to submit a response to think the debate was a foregone conclusion.
  
  Reply
  1. Matthew Kermeen
    
    March 24, 2010 at 10:33 pm
    
    Ugh, fabrication^
    
    Reply
6. Dark Moogle
  
  March 24, 2010 at 10:50 pm
  
  Considering the amount of public backlash Atkinson faced for what was a PERSONAL VENDETTA and not a party position, I like to think that the AGs will instead not bring personal beliefs into the issue and just look at the facts from the discussion papers + public response on the issue
  
  Of course, in this unrealistic reality there is also universal health care, Morgan Freeman is the voice of Melbournes public transport system and Federation Square is NOT an atrocious piece of architecture.
  
  Reply
Brendan

March 24, 2010 at 8:21 pm

Hopefully what the Twitter post says is true, this whole thing really has turned into a bad joke.

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Luke Thompson

March 24, 2010 at 8:24 pm

His mugshot doesn’t make my stomach churn. That’s a plus.

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Luke

March 24, 2010 at 9:29 pm

Going with the general theme of these comments. Personally i think he looks like the Russian PM Vladimir Putin.

Anyway i think its the closest we will ever get to the “mythical” R18+ classification as there is still a high chance that another AG will choose to veto and we are back to square. Fingers crossed

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1. Luke
  
  March 24, 2010 at 10:17 pm
  
  PS. to having the rating.
  
  Reply
rpgplayer83

March 24, 2010 at 9:40 pm

“a supporter or the R18+ classification for games”

OF?

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Justin Robson

March 24, 2010 at 9:52 pm

I’m trying not to get excited… I wonder if this guy knows that if he changes Atkinson’s vote, he’ll be not only a hero to gamers, but sort of making history?

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1. Matthew Anderson
  
  March 25, 2010 at 12:55 am
  
  He might make Kevin Rudd cry, too.
  
  Reply
woody

March 24, 2010 at 10:27 pm

As long as he doesn’t hate the gaming community. We just want someone who is willing to hear our views.

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Jakob Smolinski

March 24, 2010 at 10:53 pm

Well now the opinions will come out.. woulnd’t it be funny if ALL THIS TIME we have bagged and bagged Atkinson and some other ultra-conservative A-G announces their opposition to an R18 rating… *shudders*

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1. mambodog
  
  March 25, 2010 at 1:40 am
  
  That wouldn’t be funny at all, it’d be bloody terrible.
  
  Seriously though, I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy’s feelings about the issue change now that he’s in a position to take heat for them. Lets hope he’s got some backbone.
  
  Reply
2. Sam Timmins
  
  March 25, 2010 at 1:51 am
  
  I think many kept silent for the risk of making GAMERS look bad to the collection of A-Gs.
  
  Reply
3. FunkyJ
  
  March 25, 2010 at 11:21 am
  
  I agree – it wouldn’t be funny at all.
  
  But then it would be time for this new person to receive emails from the electorate and have pressure put on them to consider the facts in a fair and balanced manner, and not disrupt the will of the people because they’re inconsiderate and unknowledgeable about the matter.
  
  Reply
RufusLives

March 25, 2010 at 8:05 am

We can but hope this guy realises that to protect the children games must be classified correctly AND should the R18+ rating be introduced then non-gamer parents must be educated (I made a few suggestions in my submission)

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HotDamn!

March 25, 2010 at 9:36 am

I’m going to miss you Michael.

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Malorion

March 25, 2010 at 12:56 pm

Even if some other AG doesn’t like the idea of R18+ games, hopefully he or she is open to discussion and willing to listen to reason and common sense, unlike Mr Atkinson.

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Matthew McCay

March 25, 2010 at 2:22 pm

http://www.indaily.com.au/

Confirming what Mr Prior has said

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Broken code.

March 25, 2010 at 5:28 pm

I’m still alittle skeptical. I won’t believe he’s pro R18 until Mr.Rau says it himself.

Reply

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Atkinson’s Successor Named – Pro R18+?

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49 responses to “Atkinson’s Successor Named – Pro R18+?”

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