Gamers4Croydon empty-handed at SA election

Gamers from around Australia were keeping a keen eye on the South Australian state election on the weekend and on how it would affect then-Attorney-General Michael Atkinson--the man who many Aussie players believe is the conservative gatekeeper to Australia's rating system. Atkinson was being directly challenged by Australia's first video game-specific party in his electorate of Croydon. The party--Gamers4Croydon (G4C)--also ran candidates in several other seats and vied for a spot in the state's Legislative Council. Returns from the election, however, showed that G4C was unsuccessful in any of its attempts to get a party member elected to government.

A Gamers4Croydon volunteer stands outside a polling station handing out flyers.

Unsurprisingly, G4C's best results were recorded in Croydon, where candidate Kat Nicholson managed to secure 587 votes, or 3.7 percent of overall votes, according to the Electoral Commission SA. The Mawson electorate--contested by Ben Ernst--garnered G4C's second most successful result at 297 votes (1.8 percent), while Adelaide candidate Tom Birdseye got 250 votes (1.7 percent). Norwood's David Egge received 191 votes (1.2 percent), while Light candidate Matt Allpress managed 165 votes (1 percent).

As for the Legislative Council candidate Chris Prior, G4C scored 6,073 votes from across the state, almost doubling the total for One Nation and beating the Shooter's Party. While votes are still being counted, it's unlikely that the party will earn a seat in the Legislative Council.

David Doe, founder of G4C, told GameSpot AU that he thought the party performed "really well."

"We outpolled Family First and the Democrats in Croydon. Given we did it in less than six months and on a budget of about A$16,000 [made up from political donations]," he said. Doe conceded that there were things the party would do differently next time, such as seeking help from more volunteers, conducting additional door-knocking campaigns in other electorates they are running in, and trying to attract more mainstream media.

Despite failing to oust Michael Atkinson in his own seat, yesterday morning Atkinson announced his retirement as South Australia's attorney-general. While he no longer has any say over Australia's classification future, Michael Atkinson plans to continue on as Croydon's member of parliament until the next election in 2014.

For more news on the South Australian election over the weekend, be sure to check out our comprehensive news story.