Seemingly every politician in the government has ideas about internet censorship and filtering that doesn't quite mesh with the community at large - and continued blockage of the R 18+ rating for video games in Australia is another point of contention.
This is a point that the Sex Party seem to be gripping with a firm hand, whose policies cover changes in the entertainment media; changes that we need to be on par with the rest of the world, conveniently summarised in their video on YouTube.
They've got an election and event of sorts on this weekend and when Fiona Patten, Sex Party Convenor, let us know, we figured that the community should be aware too:
The Australian Sex Party is the newest registered political party in Australia and the only party with a policy to legalise R rated games. We are also the only party actively opposing mandatory internet filtering. We are standing candidates in this weekend's by elections of Higgins in Victoria and Bradfield in Sydney. Unbelievably, the Greens are standing the architect of the government's internet filtering scheme, Clive Hamilton, as their candidate in Higgins.
Our ideological base is predicated on the fact that Australian parliaments are becoming more stacked with overtly religious MPs. Kevin Rudd is a well known committed Christian who goes to church every week and openly admits that his parliamentary life is strongly influenced by his religious one. The new leader of the Liberal Party, Tony Abbott, is a former Jesuit priest in training and close friend of Archbishop George Pell. His religious zeal is legendary.
R (and X) rated computer games are currently illegal because a religious Attorney General from South Australia, has the power to veto all the other Attorneys General on this issue. This is unlikely to change in the near future.
A vote for the Sex Party in the two by elections this weekend will send a strong message to the major parties about support for R rated games. We need to activate gamer networks in Australia to contact friends and colleagues who live in these electorates to vote for the Sex Party. We also need help on polling day in handing out How To Vote cards at polling booths. It's a fun day and the smartest way to support legalising R rated games and getting rid of internet filtering.
It's all going down this Saturday, when your vote could help raise awareness for the R18 cause in a manner that should garner some serious attention.