Australia's Anti-Atkinson Party Disbands

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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Australia's Anti-Atkinson Party Disbands


Gamers4Croydon, the fledgling Australian political party that was created to challenge former South Australia Attorney General and notorious gaming critic Michael Atkinson, has disbanded.

Gamers4Croydon was formed last year with the intent of running game-friendly candidates in the Australian election held in March. It didn't win any seats but it did help to highlight the messy videogame situation [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/97644-Atkinson-Expects-Criminal-Activities-From-Gamers4Croydon] in Australia, which doesn't have an R18 rating for games and therefore either crams games into the MA15+ category that really shouldn't be there, or simply bans them outright.

Now, in a post on the Gamers4Croydon website [http://gamers4croydon.org/news.php#0], founder David Doe has announced that the party is shutting down less than a year after it was formed. "All good things come to an end, and it's time to pass the torch on to people with the resources and experience necessary to bring the change to bear politically," he wrote. "Having successfully been a part of removing one of the largest roadblocks to classification reform in this country, we feel that Gamers4Croydon has run its course as a party."

Doe suggested that gamers and other supporters check out political alternatives like the Greens and the Australian Sex Party [http://www.sexparty.org.au/], which is opposed to Australia's planned internet filter. "They're the closet aligned to use ideologically and we all share many common policies," he explained.

"While we will not be contesting the upcoming federal election, the G4C team will continue to help gamers' voices be heard, and we will continue to hold our elected parliamentarians accountable," Doe wrote. "2010 is the dawning of a new age of politics in Australia; the age of the informed voter. This election may not have gamers running in it, but it's certainly going to have them participating every step of the way."

As alluded to by Doe, Atkinson stepped down [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99288-Michael-Atkinson-Steps-Down] from his post as Attorney General soon after the March election, but calling it "mission accomplished" is a little premature. Australia still has no R18 rating for videogames, there's no sign it'll be getting on anytime soon and the internet filter plan is still a go. In other words, Atkinson is out but nothing else has really changed. Maybe Gamers4Croydon is turning off the lights and locking the door a bit too early?

Source: Gamespot [http://au.gamespot.com/news/6267114.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B1]


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Macgyvercas

Spice & Wolf Restored!
Feb 19, 2009
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Shame. They had some good ideas.

Well, one out of three goals met (get Atkinson out, Get R18+ rating, Prevent Internet Filter). Not great, but it's better than nothing.
 

Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
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Macgyvercas said:
Well, one out of three goals met (get Atkinson out, Get R18+ rating, Prevent Internet Filter). Not great, but it's better than nothing.
Better than how David Cameron is doing in England.

*Ba-Dum Tish*

Honestly, this is both awesome and sad at the same time. I salute the fallen comrade in the fight for getting games' reputation as murder simulators. May the others try just as hard as you did.

Calumon: Jack Thompson, Michael Atkinson... Who's next? We'll take you all on! >: )
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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I suggest they leave for another country.

The Aussie government has officially gone bat-shit crazy in recent times.
 

HTID Raver

New member
Jan 7, 2010
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poor aussies :(


i think it would be best for you all to move out.... before its too late! >_>
 

jamesworkshop

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Sep 3, 2008
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Jack and Calumon said:
Macgyvercas said:
Well, one out of three goals met (get Atkinson out, Get R18+ rating, Prevent Internet Filter). Not great, but it's better than nothing.
Better than how David Cameron is doing in England.

*Ba-Dum Tish*

Honestly, this is both awesome and sad at the same time. I salute the fallen comrade in the fight for getting games' reputation as murder simulators. May the others try just as hard as you did.

Calumon: Jack Thompson, Michael Atkinson... Who's next? We'll take you all on! >: )



By OUR powers combined, I am Cleggeron
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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They appeared to be doing well too...Thats a shame, well, they did some good t least
 
Nov 5, 2007
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Andy Chalk said:
Australian Sex Party [http://www.sexparty.org.au/],
It's the best kind of party.

But yeah, seems premature to close down. Gives the impression that their only political proposition was "Get Atkinson out", which is a pretty light party program anyways.
 

008Zulu_v1legacy

New member
Sep 6, 2009
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Happy Atkinson is gone, sad there is no R18 yet, indifferent to the filter. It will be mandatory, but bypassing it wont be illegal.
 

Trogdor1138

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May 28, 2010
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I'm at the stage now where I can't even be bothered typing out how stupid the shit like this in our country is as I have done it so many times in the past, so instead, I shall dance.

*jiggys*
 

Demongeneral109

New member
Jan 23, 2010
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The Australian Sex Party and Gamers4Croydon sound more like interest groups than political parties... at least Atkinson is down and out! May the gamer revolution go strong nyoro~!
 

CarlosYenrac

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Nov 20, 2007
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Straying Bullet said:
The Australian government is concerning regarding Game rating and other matters.

I hope they win or time to emigrate. I was planning to move to Australia but this entire ban on gaming +18 is putting me off. I am serious on this one.
You misunderstand, very few 18+ games actually get banned each year- most of them just get re-rated MA15+ and sent out into the hands of our kids :(
 

Darkwolf9

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Aug 19, 2008
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I think they should have stayed around if for nothing else to help push the R 18 rating. Though I'm sure they had their reasons. Stuff like that is extremely time consuming and if you want to do something else it can be very hard. With that said, sacrifice is what has to be done if you expect to see any serious positive change in the future.
 

z3rostr1fe

New member
Aug 14, 2009
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I guess they should need another leader to stand up to its ideals, before they close the party altogether. With this kind of thing happening, the ideals will be just something whisked out of thin air.