Gamers4Croydon staying "positive" on unseating Atkinson at election

After months of fundraising, letter box drops, and campaigning, Australia’s first gaming-focused political party is about to face its first electoral test. Gamers4Croydon--the party set up to take on vocal anti-game proponent Michael Atkinson--heads to the polls on Saturday, March 20, for the South Australian state election, with party founder David Doe remaining optimistic about his group's chances of unseating Atkinson, the South Australian attorney-general.

Speaking to GameSpot AU on election eve, Doe said that while his party lacks the funds to have accurate polling forecasts to gauge just how well its candidates will fare in the election, he is staying optimistic about achieving positive results in its quest to unseat Michael Atkinson from the electorate of Croydon and for scoring a place in the state’s Legislative Council. Gamers4Croydon has several candidates across the state: Kat Nicholson is running for Croydon, Tom Birdseye is a candidate for Adelaide, Norwood has David Egge standing, Matt Allpress is running for Light, and Ben Ernst is the candidate for Mawson. Chris Prior is running for the Legislative Council seat. To unseat Atkinson in Croydon, Nicholson will need to score at least 13,000 votes, a tough task considering that Croydon is one of the safest Labor seats in the state.

"A 17 percent swing [against incumbent Michael Atkinson] is not unheard of, especially as he's been the invisible man during this campaign," Doe said. "We don't have access to polling, so we'll just keep doing what we're doing. You have to think positive, otherwise, why would we bother?"

Doe said Gamers4Croydon volunteers will be at close to 20 polling booths in South Australia--including all Croydon polling stations--during Saturday’s election, handing out how-to-vote cards. He has urged the gaming community in South Australia to turn out in numbers and vote. "Tell your friends, your family, and everyone you meet today and tomorrow to get the word out," Doe said.

For an R18+ rating for video games to be introduced in Australia, all state and federal attorneys-general must unanimously agree to implement it. South Australian attorney-general Michael Atkinson has been a longtime opponent of such a move and has earned the ire of gamers around the country for his anti-game stance. ABC election analyst Antony Green--who has covered more than 37 Australian territory, state, and federal elections for the ABC--previously told GameSpot AU that there was little chance Atkinson would be unseated. Recent polls, however, have the Labor incumbent neck-and-neck with its Liberal Party opponents, with the chance of Atkinson and his party being voted out of government entirely.

For more on video game classification in Australia, check out GameSpot AU's Aussie Games Classification FAQ feature.