Senator Kate Lundy tables one of the biggest petitions in recent history and speaks out in support of an R18+ rating.
Sometimes it feels the debate about introducing an R18+ rating for video games has been going on for so long that it’s almost hit a bit of a stalemate.
Thankfully, this doesn’t seem to be the case, and yesterday federal Senator Kate Lundy brought it to the Upper House of parliament when she presented a petition with close to 90,000 signatures – making it one of the largest petitions tabled to parliament in recent history – and spoke in favour of the move.
You can read her whole speech here, but we’re pleased to see that she’s finally making the points that most of us have been making for years: that adults are gamers too, and that some games are made for those adults, but that having an R18+ rating is not necessarily going to lead to the introduction of more violent or explicit games into the market. What it will do is reduce the incidence of games that should really be rated R being granted an MA rating and thus giving game buyers the impression that they’re suitable for kids, when they’re really not.
Lundy also notes that the introduction of an R18+ rating will be good for the economy as it brings us into line with countries like the US and UK, where the bulk of our games come from.
And she’s not shy about pointing out that this is an issue on which the public has most definitely spoken - and overwhelmingly in favour. She cites more than one study that backs that up, too, so we’re hoping that this time it’s not going to be possible to dismiss the issue as irrelevant.
The Attorneys-Generals will be meeting in early December, and we’re hoping that Lundy’s speech and the reaction its generating do not escape their attention.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012