Attorney-General Michael Atkinson quits front bench
Bench, 22-Mar-10 » It's a name that for so long has been mumbled in the same sentence as "R18+ debate", and only a day after he once again secured his 20-year-old seat in the electorate of Croydon, South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has today announced he'll be resigning from the front bench with the expectation of leaving government in 2014.
“I believe there should be renewal,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson said one of the factors in the decision had been wanting to watch his son Johnno play soccer for Woodville-Belgrade.
"He was supposed to play his first game last night at 7pm and like so many times in my time in Parliament I wasn't there," he said. " I am pretty disappointed about that.
"So I resolved that every time Johnno walks on the pitch this year his dad is going to be there even if it embarrasses the hell out of him."
Previously Atkinson was copped a string of criticism over internet censorship, a so-called “stashed cash” affair and high-profile defamation cases.
However the biggest thing of course has been his quite public refusal of the R18+ rating being introduced for Australian Video Games.
In contrast to Atkinson's claims that Gamers4Croydon wouldn't secure even 1% of votes, G4C candidate and R18+ games campaigner Kat Nicholson, who ran against Mr Atkinson, secured 3.7 per cent of the votes yesterday.
Changes to Australia's classification system require the approval of all state and federal attorneys-general. Their next meeting is in late April.
Earlier this year the Federal Government asked for public input on the issue and received around 60,000 submissions, with early indications suggesting that over 90% were in favor of the R18+ rating.
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Conner said the response was "staggering". A report is being prepared for the attorneys-general meeting.
Michael Atkinson will give up his Croydon seat in the 2014 elections.
“I believe there should be renewal,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson said one of the factors in the decision had been wanting to watch his son Johnno play soccer for Woodville-Belgrade.
"He was supposed to play his first game last night at 7pm and like so many times in my time in Parliament I wasn't there," he said. " I am pretty disappointed about that.
"So I resolved that every time Johnno walks on the pitch this year his dad is going to be there even if it embarrasses the hell out of him."
Previously Atkinson was copped a string of criticism over internet censorship, a so-called “stashed cash” affair and high-profile defamation cases.
However the biggest thing of course has been his quite public refusal of the R18+ rating being introduced for Australian Video Games.
In contrast to Atkinson's claims that Gamers4Croydon wouldn't secure even 1% of votes, G4C candidate and R18+ games campaigner Kat Nicholson, who ran against Mr Atkinson, secured 3.7 per cent of the votes yesterday.
Changes to Australia's classification system require the approval of all state and federal attorneys-general. Their next meeting is in late April.
Earlier this year the Federal Government asked for public input on the issue and received around 60,000 submissions, with early indications suggesting that over 90% were in favor of the R18+ rating.
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Conner said the response was "staggering". A report is being prepared for the attorneys-general meeting.
Michael Atkinson will give up his Croydon seat in the 2014 elections.
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| Category: | Gaming News |
| Posted: | 22-Mar-10 12:32:15 pm |
| Author: | Bench |