Communications Minister says giving games an R18+ rating is in line with his argument that the Internet should not be treated differently

Communications Minister, Senator Stephen Conroy, strongly supports an R18+ rating for games in Australia. His stance is in line with his Government’s position.

In an in-depth interview with ARN, Conroy said he first made his position clear during a public meeting in Ballarat, Victoria, in 2010 after being asked about the issue by a young member of the audience.

“I’ve always supported the R-rating and did so long before the Government made its decision,” he said. “Just because it’s a video game doesn’t mean it should have a different classification system to movies and all other things.”

The Communications Minister said it was in line with his argument that the Internet should be censored because it was just another platform for media.

“I’ve always argued we should try and have across platforms one system, ie it should be platform neutral,” he said. “That’s why the argument around Internet filtering becomes particularly ferocious because I argue it’s just another platform, it’s not mystical.”

Conroy’s comments may come as a shock to supporters of an R18+ rating for games. Many of the groups that support the rating also argued against a mandatory Internet filter and labelled the Communications Minister an ultra conservative for his stance.