Michael Atkinson has long been considered the bane of Australian gamers, but today his opponents were given a reason to cheer. The South Australian Attorney-General will be leaving his post in Parliament at the end of his term in 2014, and he'll abdicate his Attorney-General responsibilities immediately.
"I believe there should be renewal," he said to AdelaideNow.com.au. "I have had 20 years in Parliament. I think there ought to be renewal in the ministry. I think there are talented people on the Labor backbench who deserve a go. I don't think we want all the ministry leaving in a bunch about 2014 and so it's important that renewal be staged."
Atkinson says that no one suggested he step down. He's made a number of controversial decisions during his career, including Internet censorship and anti-biker gang laws in addition to his stance against an R18+ rating for games. Atkinson indicated that watching his son Johnno play soccer for Woodville-Belgrade influenced his decision
"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."
3 Comments
March 22, 2010
His resignation as Attorney General is immediate. He will sit in parliament to 2014 but won't hold the AG responsibility. We won't need to wait 4 years to get 18+ rating for games in Australia.
March 22, 2010
Right, perhaps that wasn't made explicitly clear in the story - I'll edit it.
March 22, 2010
Ironically, I think it was his stance on the Internet censorship law (and later retraction) that pushed him to do this more than anything he did to gamers or bikers. For whatever the Internet poll on AdelaideNow is worth, 95% of readers are glad to see him go - he obviously didn't make a lot of friends with this "fuddyduddy" attitude.