Australian Opposition Leader Happy to Look at R18+ Rating

[Logan Westbrook]

Australian Opposition Leader Happy to Look at R18+ Rating

Australian politician Tony Abbot says that the lack of an adult rating for videogames is "silly."

Abbot, the leader of the opposition party in Australia's parliament said at a public forum in Sydney last night that he would be happy to look at an adult rating for videogames if his party came to power. Abbot's comments were in response to a question asking whether the Liberal/National coalition had any policies regarding the issue.

Abbot said that he was personally unaware of the debate around the issue, but that it didn't make sense for videogames to receive different treatment than other media. Abbot has said in the past that the classification system in Australia was broken and required further review, but whether this means it will be a priority for his party if it is elected is unclear.

With the departure of Michael Atkinson [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99288-Michael-Atkinson-Steps-Down ] from the position of Attorney General for South Australia, resistance to the idea of a R18+ rating for games seems to be dwindling. With a general election coming in just a few days, and a meeting of attorney generals [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102302-Australian-R18-Discussion-Delayed-Again ] coming in November, perhaps we'll start to see some movement on the issue - even just a tiny bit - before the end of the year.

Source: Kotaku Australia [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/08/tony-abbott-happy-to-look-at-r18-rating/]



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[silver wolf009]

Cunning dog, trying to win the vote of the downtrodded gamers. That would actually help a political party.

 

[Blackjack 222]

Why put in the rating when you could actually do something about little kids buying adult games? Oh wait politics...

 

[latenightapplepie]

I don't believe him. He's such a slimy weasel, I don't think I could believe anything he says.

 

[antman9000]

as good as that sounds, still doesnt make up for wanting to get rid of the NBN. labor still gets my vote

 

[Ninjamedic]

Sounds very cameron-esqe. As long as it gets rid of Atkinson.

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

He definitely seems ignorant of a lot of modern technology and it's issues, but at least he admits it. That may not mean much to most people, but I've yet to see an issue with him where he hasn't at least seemed honest. I haven't seen too much, but still.

If not for Labor furiously trying to filter Australia's Internet despite the ridiculous amount of backlash and contradicting evidence against it, I'd vote Elmo. But I'm not throwing my vote away when there's something that serious on the line.

 

[UberNoodle]

But we don't want Abbot to have any power.

 

[Zing]

Fuck him. Even if he did, his plan for our internet is bullshit, scrapping the NBN for a 6 Billion dollar plan that is "10x slower" than the NBN is just retarded, Australia is so far behind the rest of the world when it comes the internet and the NBN will bring us up to par with everyone else. He's also going to tax a bunch of shit with the business tax and he's a lying scumbag(but then again most pollies are).

In the end, the decision still falls to the Attorney-Generals anyway, public support is overwhelming and they will have to bow and change it regardless of who's in office.

My vote is still going to the Greens, and then Labour second because the Liberals are going to block the Internet filter when it goes to the Senate anyway, effectively making it dead.

 

[Zing]

as good as that sounds, still doesnt make up for wanting to get rid of the NBN. labor still gets my vote

NBN and Filter, or Otherbroadband plan that will not be as good (but at only 1/6th of the cost) and no mandatory filter?

Desicisons Desicisons....

Joe Hockey announced last week that the Liberal party would definitely vote against the proposed mandatory ISP filter. So, especially if the Greens hold the balance of power(Greens oppose the filter), the legislation will not pass through parliament.

So basically the ideal outcome of the election would be Gillard in office with the Greens holding the balance of power.

 

[antman9000]

as good as that sounds, still doesnt make up for wanting to get rid of the NBN. labor still gets my vote

NBN and Filter, or Otherbroadband plan that will not be as good (but at only 1/6th of the cost) and no mandatory filter?

Desicisons Desicisons....

its been figured out the filter wont be put in. due to it having to go through parliament, and needing the majority to agree to it, even if labor does get in, coalition and the greens are against it, which is more then labor.

edit: ninja'd ^^^ lol

 

[Natdaprat]

I don't care if he wants to enslave children or cause wars, I would vote for this man.

 

[TheComedown]

as good as that sounds, still doesnt make up for wanting to get rid of the NBN. labor still gets my vote

Yeah but its not even close enough to make up for scrapping the NBN for more copper, not to mention he'll probably just back flip on it. The rating is already being looked at anyway especially with Michael Atkinson gone.

Abbot your still creepy, your not getting my vote.

 

[TheComedown]

I don't care if he wants to enslave children or cause wars, I would vote for this man.

Even though he thinks our current internet speeds are fine? even tho he wants to blow 6 billion on replacing the current copper net work... with more copper? It will have to be re-done in a year or two anyway. Labour got it right with the fiber optics, future proofs us for a long time. In the long run the the NBN will save money.

 

[antman9000]

I don't care if he wants to enslave children or cause wars, I would vote for this man.

Even though he thinks our current internet speeds are fine? even tho he wants to blow 6 billion on replacing the current copper net work... with more copper? It will have to be re-done in a year or two anyway. Labour got it right with the fiber optics, future proofs us for a long time. In the long run the the NBN will save money.

lol.. remember that not everyone commenting on this is from aus. though his point of view does make me think of the less then tech-savvy aussies, who are swayed to vote for him cause of smaller numbers and things like this. just hope there is enough smart people to counter it.

 

[BaldursBananaSoap]

Elections are founded on promises that will not be kept.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Are we that progressive and smart? No offense, it's just a stereotypical joke towards us.

Cannibalism is allowed in Germany if both parties are in consent. What fun we Europeans are at parties.