As Australia’s most outspoken critic of a proposed R18+ rating for games, Michael Atkinson’s departure from the position, combined with a record 55,000 submissions to the recent discussion paper, could pave the way for this much-needed change to the ratings system to happen sooner rather than later.

“When I made a decision, or participated in a decision, that a computer game was unsuitable for minors, I was forced to refuse classification for that game. It was not because I thought that the game depicted, expressed or otherwise dealt with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that it would offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults. It was simply because the game was not OK for kids.

Not being able to restrict computer games to adults was an impediment to my ability to reflect Australian community standards.”

Most of his response is directly targeted at Michael Atkinson’s ridiculous arguments on why an R18+ rating for games should not be introduced in Australia.

“In February 2010, Mr. Atkinson told gamespot.com.au that ‘I think the majority of the population are unfamiliar with these games, and without images, they won’t be able to imagine them in their mind’s eye. They’ll have no idea how violent or sexually depraved they are, and what kind of torture, drug use, and blood spatter they include.’ He also reported to have said that ‘R18+ was an issue that most Australians didn’t care enough about.’ Once again he is exaggerating the level of content that is permissible under the guidelines at the R18+ classification.

“Of even greater concern is the fact that Mr. Atkinson does not understand that most Australians are gamers, and therefore the majority of the population is familiar with game content. (As noted above, 68% of Australians play games and 88% of all Australian households have gaming equipment.) All responses, including those from gamers, are responses from the Australian community. Whilst Mr. Atkinson may wish to marginalise gamers, and put down the knowledge of all Australians, I trust the Government will accept all submissions at face value as representative of the Australian community’s feelings on this issue.”

You can read Hunt’s full response here.

“It’s 60 days until the election and they [Gamers4Croydon] don’t even have a candidate yet. Their Web site is full of memorabilia but not much else. This electorate has some 24,000 people to talk to and convince. Personally, I see no evidence of local support for their party.

“I assume the Gamers4Croydon campaign will involve criminal activities and dirty tricks, which is what I’ve come to expect from gamers,” he said. “Regardless, I think they will struggle to get even 1 percent of the votes, and their campaign will actually discredit the public campaign in support for R18+ rather than enhance its chances. They [Gamers4Croydon] might do better leading up to the election, but at this stage they’re not doing anything. What’s more, David Doe has to stop taking pleasure in people abusing me.”

Atkinson may have the right to stop Australia from introducing an R18+ rating for games, not allowing adults to play the games targeted for them. But to actually accuse a political party of engaging in “criminal activities and dirty tricks” just because they suddenly become a threat is the equivalent of labelling someone a child abuser. As for G4C getting one percent of the vote, we are confident that G4C will get more than that.

If you are enrolled to vote in South Australia, please head over to the site and fill out the membership form.

It doesn’t cost anything to join and will go a long way towards bringing about the change this country needs in its ratings system.

As well as running in Croydon, Gamers4Croydon is aiming to run in other electorates, and even to run at least one candidate for the Legislative Council so that all South Australian gamers can put their votes behind the party at election time.

Even if you’re not registered to vote in South Australia, donations to a registered Australian political party are tax-deductible up to $1500 and every dollar given will go to help Gamers4Croydon succeed in 2010. Please visit the site and do what you can to help out.

As part of their launch, the group set up the “one-click (almost) email your Attorney General”, which provided a pre-written letter to the relevant Attorney General. All that was required of the user was to fill in the relevant personal details.

The site has posted a handful of stock responses from various Attorneys General (not Atkinson, to date).

Mr Barry Collier (Member for Miranda, NSW Legislative Assembly, Australian Labor Party) writes:

It is my understanding that the paper will contain detailed descriptions of the content of various computer games which have been Refused Classification. In order to ensure informed submissions on the issue it is important that people are aware of the kinds of material which may become lawfully available for sale in Australia if an R18+ category were to be introduced for computer games.

Along with the constant hand-balling between state and federal levels, it would appear at this stage that if and when the discussion paper is released, Mr Atkinson will get his wish of a discussion paper full of misinformation, straw-men and very little relevant to the actual issue.

* Gamers4Croydon is not currently recognised as a political party by the State Electoral Commission of South Australia, although official registration and clarification are currently being sought.

Under consideration is public-servant speech for “don’t expect any action on it for a long time”.

The discussion paper represents the best chance of the wider public having their views heard on the issues. Once the discussion paper is released for public consultation organisations and members of the public are invited to make submissions outlining their views and arguements on the matter. As it stands the issue of an R18+ classification is just too small for it to be seriously considered by politicians, particularly with other far larger hot topics such as the economy and the recently reignited immigration debate. Once the discussion paper is released, the state governments will no longer be able to ignore the evidence-based arguments being presented by those in favour of the introduction of an R18+ rating.

The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (Censorship) first agreed in principle to release a discussion paper in March 2008, however this was then nearly derailed by opposition from South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson later on in the year. He then withdrew his opposition on the matter a few weeks later and the departments agreed to prepare the paper with a view to releasing it in early 2009. After they were unable to come to an agreement at the Standing Committee meeting in April 2009, the federal Attorney-General Department took over. It was then planned to be released by mid-2009 under the Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Bob Debus – however this, too, was cancelled when the Hon Brendan O’Conner replaced him in June of this year.

Since then there has been no news about it, and the latest response from the department indicates it will be a long while until there is.

Thanks to our anonymous inside tipster for this information.

GAMETRADERS 25/2/2009

Cosplay petition rally cancelled

Gametraders is cancelling its “Cosplay for a Cause” rally, which was to promote the need for a fair and equal classification of the entertainment industry, due to lack of numbers. The rally, which was to go ahead on Wednesday March 4, was to begin with a press conference on the steps of Parliament House followed by a presentation of a petition of 2600 signatures to go to the Attorney General, Michael Atkinson.

“We have received an overwhelming amount of support from the public on our drive to have an R18+ rating introduced in Australia, especially with our latest drive,” said Gametraders’ National Marketing Manager, Chad Polley. “We have listened to our customers and to the numerous forum postings and have taken into account new ideas on how to get our message across.” The “Cosplay for a Cause” event has attracted the attention needed to generate further public awareness and Gametraders have listened to the responses made nationwide by customers as well as people commenting on several forums, both national and international.

As such, Gametraders has decided not to proceed with the event on March 4, instead postponing it to a later date in the hope of gaining greater numbers to support the rally by plain-clothed participants. Gametraders is committed to driving the introduction of an R18+ rating with the view of introducing not only a fair classification system, but a more responsible one and is currently the only National Interactive Entertainment Retailer taking a strong stance on the issue.

“For action to be taken on the discussion we need the support of the media to push awareness of the issue and put it on the political agenda,” said Polley “We will start with having our Managing Director present the petitions at Adelaide’s Parliament House, followed by a press conference.” For this to be effective, a strong number of supporters are needed to rally the cause, in plain clothes as is the manner that many of you suggested.

Please express your interest at r18@gametraders.com.au. The date of the rally is to be announced and will be enacted as soon as possible.

Thanks to everybody across Australia and the world who voiced their opinions about this rally. It is my hope that with this change, we can get even more people behind the event and deliver an even stronger message to Michael Atkinson.

Gametraders is organising a rally to support an R18+ rating for video games in South Australia. The rally will take place at 1pm on the 4th of March, on the steps of the Adelaide Parliament House. As you all know, Adelaide is the home of the South Australian Attorney-General, Michael Atkinson, chief opponent of an R18+ rating for games in Australia.

This is an important chance to show your support for this long-overdue change to the Australian ratings system. Please make time to show up if you can and help campaign for a fairer, safer system for all Australians.

UPDATE (19th Feb): It’s clear from the feedback below and across the internet that a lot of people have some concerns about the cosplay nature of the rally. Gametraders has contacted me to say they will be issuing a further statement shortly. I’ll post it up as soon as I receive it.

Retaining the present classification scheme for electronic games is necessary because: it keeps the most extreme material off the shelves; it prevents children and vulnerable adults from being exposed to sexual abuse, criminal activity, and extreme violence in video games; it prevents children and vulnerable adults from virtual participation in sex, criminal activity, and extreme violence; and it results in game developers modifying their product for Australian and sometimes international audiences.

On the surface this sounds entirely reasonable – until you put a few seconds of thought into it. Then it falls apart.

1. It keeps the extreme material off the shelves: …and instead puts it onto the internet, where, due to the publicity surrounding its ban, it is immediately, and illegally, downloaded by thousands of people, most of whom are far too young to be seeing it.
2. It prevents children and vulnerable adults from being exposed to sexual abuse, criminal activity and extreme violence in video games: Actually, it forces them to be exposed to all these things, because games containing it are forced into an MA15+ rating where children can then by them. Grand Theft Auto, anyone?
3. It prevents children and vulnerable adults from virtual participation in sexual abuse, criminal activity and extreme violence: Wait, didn’t I just say Grand Theft Auto? Did I mention it’s multiplayer? So that children aged fifteen can get together with their friends and virtually participate in sexual abuse, criminal activity and extreme violence? Doesn’t that invalidate everything Michael Atkinson is saying? Oh yeah, I guess it does.
4. It results in game developers modifying their product for Australian and sometimes international audiences: Yes, it does. I can’t deny this one: Australia’s rating system has inconvenienced game developers, and game players worldwide, and cost the international industry large sums of money due to expensive edits, reworking and resubmissions. Apparently Michael Atkinson thinks it is not only acceptable, but in fact, desireable, to force his views upon not only his electorate, but his state, his country, and in fact the entire world. Well done Mr. Atkinson, your monumental ego knows no bounds.

Nothing we haven’t seen before of course, but it’s not unusual for politicians as detached as Mr. Atkinson to rehash old material instead of having to face their own hypocritical contradictions. I thought that was pretty damning in itself, but then he goes on!

I have three sons who regularly play computer games at home–the eldest is now 22. I see my children become physically and emotionally obsessed with games, and it is difficult to drag them away from the gaming console. The repeated act of killing a computer-generated person or creature desensitises children to violence. It makes violence part of their everyday lives and what is especially concerning is that it is their re-creation. A child being able to watch sex and violence in a movie is damaging to the child, but the child participating in sex and violence in a computer game is worse.

Making policy based solely on his own household experiences, and then using his position to force the entire nation (and even the world in some cases) to bow to that policy? That, my friends, it the Michael Atkinson method. I’d like to say it’s out of line for me to speculate about Mr. Atkinson’s personal life, but he seems quite content to speculate on everybody else’s by forcing his views onto the entire Australian nation. So I won’t say that. Instead, I’ll just say that as a 23-year-old myself, I would venture to suggest that if Mr. Atkinson has trouble getting his 22-year-old son to stop playing games, perhaps the problem is not with the games.

Apparently being elected Attorney-General means that you instantly become an expert on child psychology. The jury is still out on the long-term effects of early exposure to violent material, even if Michael Atkinson seems to think that he’s got it all figured out. In any case, if being exposed to violence desensitises children to it, you would think that Mr. Atkinson would support a rating which would mean violent games are restricted to adults. Instead, he opposes it and champions the current system which forces such material into the hands of children. Hypocrisy? Or just ignorance?

In cinemas, the age of moviegoers can be regulated, and at the video store people must provide ID to hire R18+ videos. Once electronic games are in the home, access to them cannot be policed and the games are easily accessible to children. These days, older children (18-30) are often living in the family home with younger children (under 18). This means games belonging to older children or parents can easily make their way into the hands of those under 18.

Wake up, Mr. Atkinson! Because of the current ratings system, adult games are already being forced into the hands of children under 18. The same system you champion is already doing the same thing that you are terrified of, and because of you, it’s all beautifully legal. Well done Michael Atkinson. The sooner that you stop “protecting children” and actually start paying attention, children might actually have a chance.

While Mr. Atkinson is of course entitled to his opinions, what he demonstrated quite clearly in this interview with Stateline is that in his opinion he is the moral saviour of people everwhere in Australia, and that he has absolutely no qualms about forcing his antiquated moral code upon the country as a whole, and indeed believes he has the right – in fact the obligation – to do so.

“Attorneys-General years ago decided that there shouldn’t be an R18+ category for video games because they were interactive and they had higher impact than film or cinema, that it was difficult to prevent children accessing computer games in the home, and so for those reasons it was decided that Australia didn’t really need an R18+ category for computer games…”

Mr. Atkinson’s first comment that games are interactive and have a higher impact than film or cinema is another myth that opponents of video games like to trot out when asked about their position. The fact of the matter is that no study has ever shown conclusively that video games have any more influence on children than any other media, and no evidence exists anywhere to support this spurious claim.

He then goes on to say that it is difficult to prevent children accessing computer games in the home, another complete fabrication. All current generation consoles come with parental lock features, which give parents absolute control over what games their children can play, and when they can play them. It is no harder to prevent children accessing computer games than it is to make sure they can’t reach the knife drawer in the kitchen. The only difference is that while no retailer in their right mind would allow children to buy a set of kitchen knives, Michael Atkinson is quite happy with the current ratings system which allows children to purchase violent, adult titles that should by any measure of common sense be restricted to adults.

“I’m sure most people can distinguish the fantasy of a computer game from reality, but it’s the small number we know can’t that leads to mass murder in American high schools and in Thailand last year lead to a gamer playing out the fantasy of hijacking a taxicab and murdering the driver. It happened.”

Video games causing mass murder in American high schools? It is painfully clear that Mr. Atkinson hasn’t actually done his research. There are no known mass murders in American high schools that can be linked to video games. Infamous (and now permanently disbarred, for unbecoming conduct) lawyer Jack Thompson tried unsuccessfully in 2001 to sue several computer game companies on behalf of the parents of children killed in an American high school shooting. The case was of course dismissed immediately, with judges ruling that it was simply too far a leap of logic to try and blame video games for these crimes.

With regards to the murder of a cab driver in Thailand, Mr. Atkinson of course refers to the game Grand Theft Auto IV – a game that is currently available to children 15 and up here in Australia. In August this year, sales of GTA IV in Thailand were halted after a teenager confessed to robbing and murdering a taxi driver because he “wanted to see if it was as easy in real life as it was in the game”. Leaving aside for a minute the obviously deep mental problems this teenager has, and the fact that Michael Atkinson is 100% okay with this game currently being available to Australian children – the idea that we should ban violent video games entirely because of the actions of a few clearly troubled individuals is utterly over-reacting and ridiculous.

The real world is already filled with people trying to imitate the questionable actions of others. We still allow smoking, even though we know that all its effects are directly harmful to everyone, and it costs the country billions of dollars in healthcare and lost wages every year. It is completely ridiculous to prevent millions of mature, sensible people from enjoying a product simply because of the actions of a meagre handful of idiots. Michael Atkinson however, clearly believes that people, especially children in Australia should be allowed to be exposed to as much violent film, television and literature as they want. As long as it’s not a video game of course, because that would be bad.

“There was one version of Grand Theft Auto where a group of singing Hare Krishnas were run down on the pavement, by the gamer motorist, and points were scored for doing that…”

Grand Theft Auto IS a violent series. It’s always been a violent series. So why is Michael Atkinson completely unperturbed with it currently being on sale in Australia under an MA15+ rating? If Australia had an R18+ rating for games, Grand Theft Auto could have been placed behind the counter, out of view of children, and only provided to an adult who could produce valid ID. Instead of working to implement this mind-blowingly obvious solution however, Mr. Atkinson continues to wax hypocritical about the horrors of Grand Theft Auto and why children shouldn’t be playing it. Clearly when your moral high horse is as towering as Mr. Atkinsons, it must be difficult to remain in touch with common sense.

“I think the western, industrialised countries that allow R18+ computer games and the extreme violence that goes with them are just so many gadarene swine going over the cliff, and I’m pleased that Australia has a principled, sensible stand against this extreme violence, I’m happy to stand alone, and international gamers can laugh at us all they like.”

And here we come to the crux of the issue: Michael Atkinson believes that he is the last remaining bastion of hope for the morals of Australia. He looks around at other countries, seeing a slide into moral decay, violence and corruption, and decides to take a stand against it all… by censoring video games. Yes, video games, that pervasive force responsible for all the evil and destruction in the western world. Australians should count ourselves lucky that this man is willing to stand up and fight for what is right, even if he has to run roughshod over common sense and freedom of speech in the process.

The monstrous arrogance of this man is to be utterly condemned by Australians everywhere. This man who sits idly by and allows children – HIS children – to play violent MA15+ titles, while loudly defending his decision not to restrict their sale to adults as being “in the best interests of children”, this man who is happy to impose his completely nonsensical moral code upon the entirety of Australia, this man who can’t even begin to comprehend his own hypocrisy, this man is an arrogant menace and needs to be immediately removed from office. Australians everywhere should outraged that Michael Atkinson thinks they are so stupid, so decadent as to need his condescending protection against the evils of the world.

Don’t stand for this. Get involved. Write to your local MP, write to your state’s Attorney-General and put the pressure on. As long as this man continues to hold veto power over change in Australia, children will still be playing violent games, people of all ages will still be treated like ignorant children, and the system will still be broken, unfair and dangerous.

Thanks to MrWyld for the YouTube video.