Article taken from Sydney Morning Herald:
Had enough … former South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. Photo: David Mariuz
The long-awaited introduction of an adults-only rating for video games in Australia could be a step closer after South Australia’s Michael Atkinson yesterday resigned from his position as Attorney-General.
Mr Atkinson has been the South Australian Attorney-General since 2002 and has frustrated attempts to introduce an R18+ rating for games because its introduction requires unanimous support from all state and federal classification ministers.
“There ought to be renewal in the ministry,’’ he told reporters.
“There are talented people on the Labor backbench who deserve a go. I don’t think we want all the Labor ministers leaving in a bunch about the 2014 general election and so it’s important that that renewal be staged.’’
Australia is the only democracy in the western world not to have an adults-only rating for video games. Last year six games were refused classification for exceeding the limits of the MA15+ rating, effectively banning their sale in Australia.
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ScreenPlay: Game over for Atkinson
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Video game developer David Doe established the Gamers 4 Croydon party late last year to try to unseat the 51-year-old Mr Atkinson at the South Australian elections on the weekend and raise awareness of the R18+ issue.
Although Gamers 4 Croydon had little impact on the poll (receiving just 3.7 per cent of the vote in Croydon and 0.8 per cent in the Legislative Council) Mr Atkinson suffered a 12.4 per cent swing against him in his safe Labor seat of Croydon.
The federal Attorney-General’s department recently completed a public consultation inviting Australians to have their say about the proposed introduction of an R18+ rating for games following the publication of a long-awaited discussion paper detailing the advantages and disadvantages of an adults-only rating.
Mr Atkinson frustrated attempts to release the discussion paper after disagreeing with its contents, forcing the federal Attorney-General’s department to publish it alone.
Mr Atkinson is the only classification minister to publicly oppose the introduction of an R18+ games rating, although he has repeatedly claimed that there are others.
Mr Atkinson has previously told South Australian parliament that he knows the lack of an R18+ rating denies Australian adults choice but was necessary to help restrict children’s access to “potentially harmful material”.
The next meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General is held in Melbourne on April 29, but it is not yet known whether the introduction of an R18+ games rating will be discussed.
At least 40,000 submissions were received by the Attorney-General’s department from Australians who want an adults-only rating introduced.
The result of the South Australian election is still unknown, with both Premier Mike Rann and Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond still refusing to claim victory or concede defeat.
A controversial figure
Elected to parliament in 1989, the 51-year-old Atkinson’s tenure as attorney-general has been controversial.
Mr Atkinson oversaw SA’s anti-bikie laws, parts of which were ruled invalid by the Supreme Court in a judgment Labor will contest in the High Court.
Last year, he cost taxpayers about $200,000 when he settled out of court a defamation case brought against him by an Adelaide magistrate. Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Cannon launched the legal action after Mr Atkinson used the words “daft” and “delusional” in relation to the magistrate’s suggestion that some people might get lighter sentences because of overcrowded jails.
Mr Atkinson was also involved in SA’s first political corruption trial in 2005 when a former adviser to Mr Rann was found not guilty of abuse of public office. The adviser, Randall Ashbourne, denied offering a former Labor MP board positions in return for the politician dropping defamation action against Mr Atkinson in 2002.
And in this election campaign, Mr Atkinson was forced to scrap legislation which required people posting internet comments regarding Saturday’s poll to use their real names.
‘‘It may be humiliating for me but that’s politics in a democracy,’’ he said at the time.
