Australia's Atkinson Resigns From Office
South Australia Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, for some time the only opposition to introducing a R18+ classification for video games in the country, announced over the weekend that he was resigning from his position as Attorney-General immediately. Holding his position as MP for over 20 years, Atkinson will step down fully at the end of his term in 2014, his role a backseat one in the interim.
In Australia's system, changes to censorship law require the unanimous consent of all the country's Attorney-Generals, and Atkinson has long been the only hold-out to updating the ratings to be more in-line with the rest of the world. As a result, Australia lacks a classification criteria beyond 15+, so any games that would be rated higher than this are refused classification and prohibited from being sold.
While this doesn't signal that a reversal is imminent, Atkinson has maintained his refusal in defiance of the clear will of his constituents and the rest of Australia, so hopefully his replacement will be a bit more respectful. With his party also losing their majority in the election this past weekend, it's a good sign to hope for as far as gamers are concerned. Soon enough Australia might not have to worry about "banned games" the way it has in the past.
mixvio
Posted to Hot Stuff, Miscellany on 22 March 2010
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: atkinson, australia, elections, michael atkinson
Oh gosh, this is such good news! Maybe all the petitions and support for Croydon finally got through to him. Hopefully, Australia's games industry will no longer be held hostage by a single, JT-like figure in the future.
Yahtzee will be please lol
Good Riddance.. It pains me to think that some of my tax dollars may have gone to pay him for his services.. *shudder*