Last weekend's South Australian state election saw Labor politician Michael Atkinson easily retain his seat of Croydon despite a significant swing, much to the dismay of many gamers who see him as the only person standing in the way of the introduction of an R18+ rating for video games in Australia. That dismay soon turned to cautious optimism quickly, however, with news that Atkinson would be relinquishing his position on the Labor Government's front bench, effectively ending his reign as attorney-general.
Atkinson was the only one of Australia's state and federal attorneys-general to publicly state his opposition to the R18+ rating for games, the introduction of which requires the unanimous agreement of all attorneys-general. With Atkinson now out of his position, attention has now turned to his possible replacement and his replacement's stance on gaming. GameSpot AU contacted the South Australian Attorney-General's office, with a spokesman confirming that Atkinson had indeed relinquished his post. As for the new minister, the spokesman said: "That is for caucus to decide. It will probably be in about a week or two."
"It is true that Michael Atkinson will not run for the Attorney-General cabinet. He won his seat [in Croydon] very comfortably. Mr. Atkinson has made this decision by himself. He wants to spend more time with his family as he has been here for 21 years and he wants to give younger backbenchers a shot in cabinet. He will retire from Parliament in 2014," the spokesman said.
While the Liberal Opposition in South Australia had still not conceded defeat in the weekend's elections, most political pundits are confident that Labor will retain power in the state.
While Atkinson suffered a significant swing of 11.6 percent against him in Croydon, it's unclear how much of that can be attributed to his long-standing feud with the gaming community in Australia. Gamers4Croydon--the political party set up to specifically oppose Atkinson--scored only 3.7 percent of the vote in Atkinson's electorate. While this was more than Family First or the Democrats, Gamers4Croydon's vote was well below Atkinson's, who polled 64.5 percent of total votes after preferences.
GameSpot AU will have more on the South Australian election as news breaks. For more on video game classification in Australia, check out GameSpot AU's Aussie Games Classification FAQ feature.
Discussion
i went to his house n we got loose playin some resident evil 5 he loved it
I'm so happy. I... I think I might cry.
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yay. Im so happy. Ding Dong the the losers left
@comachrissie True, remember what happened to john howard? said he was leaving if getting re-elected... he did not win lol, so I bet if atko said he was leaving if he won they might have voted for liberals instead, and he would have not got re-elected, funny... why are they allowed to quit right after winning? that's like a total insult to anyone who voted for him, politics for ya, full of bull$hit loopholes, imagine if G4C won then quit right after that... pfft, good riddance to atko anyway, slimy prick
Don't let the door hit you on the way out!
Yes! :P w00t !! =D
It's a good thing he stepped down, but doing it less than 48 hours after being re-elected is really dishonest. I wanted him out, and it seems kind of obvious that he withheld his plans knowing if he revealed his intention to step back he knew he wouldn't have had the same certainty of being re-elected. Why do we not have stricter laws on what ministers in parliament say and making people accountable for media statements and promises?
Na na na na na na hey hey hey goodbye
Just a warning to everyone--you can get modded for making fun of his teeth, apparently. Come on mods, you know you're laughing at the pic too. :p
@ sandgroper - it's exactly that kind of stereotyping that people like Atkinson invoke. You cannot group all gamers into one easy to describe package. I was vocal about this issue, I want games to be properly classified and I am an adult. At any rate, this has got to be good news. Atkinson was pretty much the far end of the scale as far as opposition to the R18+ rating goes, so at least whoever replaces him can't be any more ignorant or stubborn.
Little does anyone know, that the most vocal of gamers, and the ones clamouring that they should be able, as adults, to view whatever they like, and the ones hurling abuse, are in actual fact 12 years old.
i lost it in that video attached down the bottom Quote... "the sequence where one, uses a prostitute, pays her, kills her then recovers the money paid" haha good riddance to this dikhead
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I'm sure he's a nice enough guy and a loving husband and father slandering him personally is uncalled for. But somewhere, somehow he got a set against video games and the gaming community, to the point where he woudln't even review actual research and studies or even consider the possibility of an R18+ classification. I don't think much will change now he's gone all the other attorney generals have similar opinions, they perhaps aren't as vocal or as passionate, but it's likley his sucessor will be much the same, but with luck maybe not such a zealot.
Oh man, we spaced on the date. You know they call them fingers, but I never see them fing.. Oh there they go
For some reason I don't hate this dude as much but hes still a buttslut! I think there should be a massive change in this R18+.
Ciao.
It reminds me of Ghostbusters, the bit where Walter Peck gets kicked outta the Mayor's office and Venkman is all like "Bye... I'm gonna miss him." all sarcastically. Just that warm fuzzy feeling that ya get. Ya know? Bill Murray would make an awesome Attorney-General, anyone got his number?
i hate that guy on account of that rediculous picture
Lol! So I wasn't the only one to notice his teeth. But yeah, I agree that this is brilliant! But a cautious optimism is certainly called for in approaching this. I just hope, to quote a friend, that "family values Fred" doesn't take his place.
lol lordsmash, they have been showing this photo too much, does anyone have an r18 game to stick in his gap that will make him frown
His teeth should be rated R 18+ or at least he should have a T Shirt with a warning that he might smile.
Good riddance
thank you mr atkinson, that's probably the only decent thing you've done in the past 5 years. it's about damn time you left. The only one we have left on the list is Stephen Conroy and his nazi internet regime, only after he is gone will Labor be tolerable again.
Although this is good, the fight has not been won. We still need to positively advocate to get an r18+ rating for games. To get it through we still have to worry about his successor, not to mention all other attorney's general across the states. There is still much more to be done before we get excited.
Aussie Gaming Down Under.. Oi Oi Oi!
This has got to be the most sensible thing Atkinson has ever done.
he wants to ""spend more time with his family."" but dose his family wants to spand time with him ;) whahhahahahah
Atkinson is a communist and he believes he is elite. Hence his internet censorship laws he tried to get passed which would have infringed free speech. He forgets that if the game is r18+ then it's restricted to minors anyway so it's up to the parents. People that have blamed games in the past for their violent behavior were mentally unstable from the start. don't blame grand theft auto for anything no one makes anyone do anything!
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Bout bloody time !
@burtbudley. Not necessarily.
@AceBalls Great math and that's an excellent point. If G4C can come in as new party and get as much as they did it's probably a record for state elections. They probably broke the record for highest percentage of votes for a political party in their first election in a state election.
As happy as this makes me, i won't be celebrating until i see who he is replaced with. I feel like Australia is getting one step closer to getting the R18+ rating that we deserve. Now if only we could stop the damn internet filtering BS. Go here if you want to help: http://www.efa.org.au/epetition/ http://openinternet.com.au/
If you do the math, think of it this way.. We won about 3.7% for Kat Nicholson on the Croydon seat. Atkinson almost LOST 14%. In effect, I think it's a victory for gamers.
Really good to see this guy gone, now just the other 10000 in parliament that have no common sense
It's not good news until it is good news... all I can say about this, though makes you wonder why he quit, some bikies leave some notes under your door this time atko?
Did he submit to pressure or is he just getting too old?
"whats cut out of the game because of MY rule" LOL
I am proud to say that I voted against him on the weekend, it felt very good.
Doubt the next one could be as bad. Let's not forget he had a mountain of screw ups behind him before this 18+ argument gained it's current momentum. Without being too critical, as I hardly know the man, do a bit of research into previous misdemeanours and bodgy
somehow i think the next one will be as bad :S stupid gut feeling :(
I raise a jug of ale to Chris Prior and all at Gamers 4 Croydon! Here's to a brilliant start in a campaign against a conservative fearmongering and mindless old mens club! http://www.gamers4croydon.org/news.php#0
The basics are that Atkinson had to go, throughut his career at attorney general (starting in 2002) he has been up on bribery charges, 2 counts of defamation (and there are still some going through court), being in contempt of parliament and proposing ridiculous internet and filtering laws. Atkinson resigning is not only good for gamers but for Australia as a whole, and hopefully we as a nation can make a fistful of this opportunity.
OMG OMG OMG :D:D:D:DD
To this day, Atkinson hasn't proved that the death threats he was getting was from a "gamer". Other people hate him too you know.. like "bikeys"..
Hey all this is very very good news as long as the new generasl dont follow his anti 18 beliefs. I personally plan to write him a thank you letter for allowing the country to get this rating we so baddly want by stepping down. It will also show we arent all violent thieves who want to rip people in half (GoW) lol I am sure he would like to see positive mail for a change after all the death mail and threats and insults. Will also show the maturity of gamers with positive words over negative ones. Just a thought :)
I did not see that comming. I thought we were in for a long, hard fight. If the next AG is younger, I think it will be a done deal. Bring on R18. Its nice to get a surprise every now and then.
:) best news today!