Since taking over the post of Minister for Home Affairs, Jason Clare was keeping pretty quiet on the issue of an R18+ rating for video games. No longer.
Speaking with GameSpot AU today, Clare’s office has confirmed he will introduce the R18+ for games bill on schedule in 2012′s first parliamentary sitting on 7 February.
Said a spokesperson for Clare’s office, “our plans are to introduce the R18+ bill in the first session of parliament this year…if it passes the Lower House, it will then go to the Senate for the same process.”
It’s not as simple as being introduced and approved; the R18+ bill will need the support of at least two crossbench MPs to pass through the Lower House (House of Representatives). It’s unclear what positions the crossbench MPs actually have, as Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor, Andrew Wilkie, Bob Katter and Adam Bandt have remained silent on the topic.
If the bill gets to the Senate, it gets a bit easier; the bill will require the support of either the coalition or the Greens, both of which have sympathetic in the past to the R18+ rating.
For those who need to refresh on the history of the R18+ rating issue, the Grow Up Australia campaign website provides a great place to start.
We’ve contacted Melbourne Greens’ MP Adam Bandt for his views on the issue and we will update this post as we learn more.
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