As Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O’Connor was more influential than any other Australian when it came to revamping games classification. Today, in a cabinet reshuffle Julia Gillard announced that O’Connor has been removed from his role, and has been replaced by Jason Clare, the previous Minister for Defence Materiel. Robert McLelland has also been removed as Attorney General and replaced by Nicola Roxon, Australia’s first female Attorney-General.
O’Connor has been appointed as Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting for School Education.
Considering a consensus has already been reached, we don’t expect these cabinet changes to have any affect on the introduction of an R18+ rating for video games in Australia. The Federal government has already stated its support for an R18+ rating, and these changes are being made at the Federal level.
Still, it’s a shame to see Brendan O’Connor go. He was instrumental in cutting through the rhetoric and pushing the R18+ rating through, and played an instrumental role in the much needed classification review.
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