Post edited 10:55 pm – March 14, 2010 by Naomi

There was an article in one of the Sydney Sunday papers (14th March 2010) as to how easy it is for a 14 year old to buy an MA15+ game from different retail stores when they should be challenged and asked to produce age ID. Freaking scary. The issue at hand is to introduce an R18+ rating which should mean stricter screening for game content and more attention being paid to content by retailers, parents and gamers alike.

Below is a call to arms from the newly formed political party Gamers4Croydon. Even though they are in SA, please help to spread the word because it's an important issue.

"There are 5 days to go until the 2010 South Australian election and again we need your help. We need you to copy and forward this mail to as many people as you've got in your addressbook (even if you're not in SA, get the word out).

This is your chance to tell everyone how you really feel about the current state of state politics. Voting for Gamers4Croydon is about stating that you want your representatives to be more transparent, more progressive, more accountable, more personable, and more willing to listen and engage with the community.

To quickly summarise our policies; Gamers4Croydon supports the R18+ rating for videogames, opposes the mandatory internet filter, supports voluntary euthanasia, is pro-choice, supports marriage equality, wants to introduce an Independent Commission Against Corruption, wants to expand stormwater recycling, supports Electric Vehicle conversion subsidies, will repeal the law restricting the display of R18+ rated DVDs, will repeal the law that undermines free speech and the right to privacy online, will ban all political advertising with public funds, and wants to introduce study of how our democracy functions into the school curriculum. To see these policies in full, go here – http://www.gamers4croydon.org/…..licies.php

We have House of Assembly candidates in Croydon, Adelaide, Norwood, Light and Mawson. If you do not live in those electorates, we have a candidate in the Legislative Council that you can vote for. We have drawn box "Z", and a 1 above the line in box "Z" is all that's required to vote for Gamers4Croydon on the Legislative Council ballot.

We need you to get out and spread the word. Ask your family who they're voting for. Ask your friends who they're voting for. Explain to them why you're voting for Gamers4Croydon, what we hope to achieve in parliament and what we hope to achieve for South Australia. (Feel free to mention prominent government ministers at this point – it usually doesn't hurt.)

It's time to engage in the political process and send a strong message about the type of politician you want to see in parliament. It's time to hold government accountable. It's time to change the face of Australian gaming by changing the face of Australian politics.

It's time to be Gamers4Croydon.

TL;DR – Vote 1 in box "Z" above the line on the Legislative Council ballot paper.
Vote for Gamers4Croydon candidates in the House of Assembly if you can.
Copy and Forward this message to everyone in your addressbook."

If you've seen my R18+ article, you'll know I asked for input from you in the way of opinions or questions. Feel free to do so in this thread if you aren't comfortable emailing me. Thanks for reading this too – let's hope we get what we want soon! :D