Yesterday South Australian premiere Mike Rann named John Rau as the new South Australian Attorney General. And the appointment could mean good news for adult gamers… More »
All those gamers hoping to see the introduction of an R18+ rating introduced in Australia, one of the biggest hurdles may have been overcome with Adelaide Now reporting that South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson has decided to retire from the front bench of parliament despite comfortably holding his seat of Croydon over the weekend. More »
Earlier this week, psychologist Dr Wayne Warburton – representing an organisation known as the Australian Council on Children and the Media – claimed on Channel 10 news that the link between playing video games violence is much stronger than the link between smoking and lung cancer. It turns out that particular organisation receives funding from a certain Attorney General who goes by the name of Michael Atkinson. More »
It’s time to stand up and take note, politicians, because gamers have put down their controllers and found their voices. According to Randolph Ramsey at Gamespot AU, the public discussion paper for the introduction of an R18+ adult classification received over 55,000 submissions. More »
Who knew? Sometimes, when faced with a barrage of logic and outrage, politicians backtrack. South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has today promised to retrospectively repeal the amendment to the Electoral Act after the next election. He’s also promised not to enforce the current law, even though legally he could. So comment away anonymously! More »
Thanks to Mark for pointing us towards this Enough Rope interview with former Democrats leader Don Chipp from 2006. As you can see below, this current attempt by the government to censor the internet isn’t exactly a new concept: More »
If you live in a state of anger and frustration about Australia’s ridiculous classifications scheme, you’ll be aware of political party Gamers4Croydon. Kotaku readers had the chance to ask the political party a heap of questions last week, and David has posted the responses this morning, and it’s well worth a read. [Kotaku]
If life were a video game, the Gamers4Croydon political party would have just received a million bonus points for hilarity. In response to Attorney-General Michael Atkinson’s tendency to use the same tired phrases in every interview regarding games classification, they’ve created the “Attorney-General Interview Bingo” game. More »
Independent developer Conor O’Kane has decided to use his powers of coding to help fight the government’s current regime of video game censorship and planned internet filtering. More »
Who Wants Freedom? If You’re South Australian, You Can Forget About It…
11:45AM February 2, 2010 | Nick Broughall
Here’s a fun game: Let’s count the ways that Australian Governments are trying to destroy personal freedoms in Australia. First off, you’ve got the mandatory internet filtering regime. Then you’ve got the country’s lack of an adult rating for video games. If that’s not enough, South Australia recently required all R-rated videos to be sectioned off in retail, regardless of content. And now, the South Australians are at it again, with a recent amendment to the Electoral Act destined to make it illegal to comment on State elections online anonymously. More »