South Australia’s Attorney General Michael Atkinson, has crash landed back to Earth after completing a double back flip (with half pike), and is now enduring the sour taste of humble pie, forcibly spoon fed while under restraint.
A furore erupted on the 2nd of Feb, when it became widespread public knowledge that the SA Government had passed a Bill sponsored by Mr. Atkinson, amending the Electoral Act (effective as of 6th Jan 2010).
The new Act reads:
Chris Prior from gamers4croydon wrote:
The law applies in SA (or no longer applies, only on the word of Mr. Atkinson’s promise) between the issue of a writ authorizing an election and the election.
Fines of $1250 for citizens can be issued for non-compliance in the law which also requires media organizations to keep a person's real name and full address on file for six months, with fines of $5000 if they do not hand over this information to the Electoral Commissioner.
Chris Prior, gamers4croydon:
2/2/10
The AdelaideNow website (a division of News Corp’s Advertiser Newspaper) reported:
WTF Mick?
I used to have respect for Mick Atkinson; he was once a politician who was approachable, a regular local guy. While most other parliamentarians were being chauffeur driven about town in luxury cars paid for by tax payers, Mick could always be seen pedaling down the street on his bicycle, arriving at work with pegged trouser legs.
But this outburst against AdelaideNow; "a sewer of criminal defamation", in itself defamation, clearly suggests the old man is going senile.
And this is not the only gibberish attack to dribble from the mouth of Mr. Atkinson of late. I get the feeling he’s a tad nervous about the forthcoming March 20 election in SA.
He has held the seat of Croydon in Adelaide for the last 20 years but now there is a new party on the block directly challenging him in his own electorate, gamers4croydon.
Atkinson has been a lone campaigner (only Attorney-General in Australia) persisting in voting no on the introduction of an R18+ classification rating for video games in Australia. This was the primary catalyst for gamers4croydon forming; they hope to apply enough pressure to have this classification issue resolved on the side of common sense.
Speaking to GameSpot AU Atkinson said he wasn't threatened by gamers4croydon's presence.
However, he then proceeded to attack them just for good measure:
The story of the amended Electoral Act ends happily for now (providing we can believe the promise of a politician) and it’s a great demonstration of what can be achieved if people only give a dam, and act on their convictions.
Even if Mick keeps good on his promise, the fact that he sponsored the implementation of this abominable law to start with, and the main opposition party supported the law without objection, would incline me to recommend all South Australians vote 1, gamers4croydon.
South Australians can support gamers4croydon by signing up for membership (free) and/ or making donations, click here.
You may also show your support by purchasing gamers4croydon gear.
A furore erupted on the 2nd of Feb, when it became widespread public knowledge that the SA Government had passed a Bill sponsored by Mr. Atkinson, amending the Electoral Act (effective as of 6th Jan 2010).
The new Act reads:
"A person must not during an election period, publish material consisting of, or containing a commentary on, any candidate or political party, or the issues being submitted to electors, in written form, in a journal published in electronic form on the internet or by radio or television or broadcast on the internet, unless the material or the program in which the material is presented contains a statement of the name and address (not being a post office box) of a person who takes responsibility for the publication of that material."
Chris Prior from gamers4croydon wrote:
After only a few hours of public outrage, Michael Atkinson has promised to repeal the legislation after the election, and not enforce it during this electoral period. Given the Rann Government's history of sticking to election promises (for example, regarding the banning of political advertising with public funds) we're not going to forget this ill-fated attack on civil liberties by the people who should be representing us.
The law applies in SA (or no longer applies, only on the word of Mr. Atkinson’s promise) between the issue of a writ authorizing an election and the election.
Fines of $1250 for citizens can be issued for non-compliance in the law which also requires media organizations to keep a person's real name and full address on file for six months, with fines of $5000 if they do not hand over this information to the Electoral Commissioner.
Chris Prior, gamers4croydon:
2/2/10
Now, whenever a South Australian writes a comment about a political matter during an election period, they must provide their full name and address. With accusations of government MPs threatening their constituents with legal action for expressing dissent, it is not difficult to imagine a possible motivation for these changes.
The AdelaideNow website (a division of News Corp’s Advertiser Newspaper) reported:
Attorney-General Michael Atkinson said the law would not impinge on free speech and claimed that he expected The Advertiser and AdelaideNow to "publish false stories about me, invent things about me to punish me''.
Mr. Atkinson described AdelaideNow as "not just a sewer of criminal defamation'' but also "a sewer of identity theft and fraud''
WTF Mick?
I used to have respect for Mick Atkinson; he was once a politician who was approachable, a regular local guy. While most other parliamentarians were being chauffeur driven about town in luxury cars paid for by tax payers, Mick could always be seen pedaling down the street on his bicycle, arriving at work with pegged trouser legs.
But this outburst against AdelaideNow; "a sewer of criminal defamation", in itself defamation, clearly suggests the old man is going senile.
And this is not the only gibberish attack to dribble from the mouth of Mr. Atkinson of late. I get the feeling he’s a tad nervous about the forthcoming March 20 election in SA.
He has held the seat of Croydon in Adelaide for the last 20 years but now there is a new party on the block directly challenging him in his own electorate, gamers4croydon.
Atkinson has been a lone campaigner (only Attorney-General in Australia) persisting in voting no on the introduction of an R18+ classification rating for video games in Australia. This was the primary catalyst for gamers4croydon forming; they hope to apply enough pressure to have this classification issue resolved on the side of common sense.
Speaking to GameSpot AU Atkinson said he wasn't threatened by gamers4croydon's presence.
However, he then proceeded to attack them just for good measure:
"I assume the gamers4croydon campaign will involve criminal activities and dirty tricks, which is what I've come to expect from gamers."As a member of gamers4croydon and/or just as a gamer, I find that remark highly offensive, way to alienate your constituency Mick.
The story of the amended Electoral Act ends happily for now (providing we can believe the promise of a politician) and it’s a great demonstration of what can be achieved if people only give a dam, and act on their convictions.
Even if Mick keeps good on his promise, the fact that he sponsored the implementation of this abominable law to start with, and the main opposition party supported the law without objection, would incline me to recommend all South Australians vote 1, gamers4croydon.
South Australians can support gamers4croydon by signing up for membership (free) and/ or making donations, click here.
You may also show your support by purchasing gamers4croydon gear.
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