Parliament of South Australia
The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat South Australian House of Assembly, House of Assembly (lower house) and the 22-seat South Australian Legislati ...
Jay Weatherill
Jay Wilson Weatherill (born 3 April 1964) is an Australian former politician who was the 45th premier of South Australia, serving from 21 October 2011 until 19 March 2018. Weatherill represented the South Australian House of Assembly, House of ...
government from 2013 to 2018. Before this post, he was the 46th
Attorney-General of South Australia
The attorney-general of South Australia is the Cabinet minister in the Government of South Australia who is responsible for that state's system of law and justice. The attorney-general must be a qualified legal practitioner, although this wa ...
, Minister for Justice, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, and Minister for Multicultural Affairs in the
Mike Rann
Michael David Rann (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and List of Australi ...
Labor Government. A day after the 2010 election, he stepped down as Attorney-General and resigned from the Cabinet. Atkinson represented the
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.
Overview
The House of Assem ...
seat of
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
from the seat's creation in 2002 until 2018, and previously Spence from 1989 until the seat was abolished and replaced by Croydon in 2002.
He was a member of the
Australian Journalists Association
The Australian Journalists Association (AJA) was an Australian trade union for journalists from 1910–1992.
In 1913 the Australian Journalists' Association merged with the Australian Writers' and Artists' Union. This union had been formed in 19 ...
whilst working for the
Adelaide Advertiser
''The Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858,Glenelg Primary School and
Unley High School
Unley High School is a public coeducational secondary school, located in the Adelaide suburb of Netherby in South Australia. It is administered by the Department of Education, with an enrolment of 1,562 students and a teaching staff of 114, as ...
. He then studied at the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
and received a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in history and also a Bachelor of Laws degree.
He worked as a sub-editor and journalist for the Adelaide ''
Advertiser
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of interest to consumers. It is typically used ...
'' from 1982 to 1985, an adviser and press secretary to federal minister Chris Hurford from 1985 to 1987, before becoming an advocate for the
Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association
The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is a private sector trade union in Australia, representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and has branches in each state and territory. Its membership is predominantly ...
(SDA) in 1989.
Parliamentary career
A founding member of the
Labor Right
The Labor Right (LR), also known as Labor Forum, Labor Unity or simply Unity, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social democratic to Third Way economic policies ...
faction, Atkinson was first elected to Parliament at the 1989 election. Following the 1993 election, he was shadow minister in a range of portfolios until Labor won government at the 2002 election. He subsequently became
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
, Minister for Justice, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Multicultural Affairs in the Ranncabinet. In a minor cabinet reshuffle in 2004, Atkinson lost his portfolio of Consumer Affairs. He became Minister for Correctional Services in 2006.
He was re-elected at the 2006 election landslide in his seat of
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
with a 76 percent two-party vote from a 6.9 percent two-party swing toward him. At the 2010 election Atkinson was again re-elected, but with a 12 percent two-party swing against him, significantly higher than the statewide 8.4 percent two-party swing. Following his re-election, he announced he would resign from the Rann ministry but remain on the backbench. Atkinson was re-elected at the 2014 election where he picked up a 3.5 percent two-party swing toward him.
On 5 February 2013 Atkinson replaced Lyn Breuer as Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly.
In September 2016,
Peter Malinauskas
Peter Bryden Malinauskas (English: ; ; born 14 August 1980) is an Australian politician serving as the 47th and current premier of South Australia since 2022. He has been the leader of the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party ...
moved house and into Atkinson's electorate of Croydon. He said of Atkinson: "Mick tkinsonknows the movements of every single one of his constituents – I suspect I’m no exception.”
Atkinson announced in February 2017 that he would be retiring from parliament as of the 2018 election.
Political views
Media classification and censorship
Atkinson had blocked several attempts to introduce a R18+ for video games in Australia. In a letter on the subject, Atkinson stated, "I don't support the introduction of an R18+ rating for electronic games, chiefly because it will greatly increase the risk of children and vulnerable adults being exposed to damaging images and messages." He also withdrew his support for a discussion paper released for public consultation on the subject of an R18+ rating.
Unanimity from Atkinson and his fellow state and federal Attorneys-General is required for the introduction of the rating (or a change to that requirement). Australia's rating system lacked a classification for games above MA15+ at the time. It therefore lacked not only an equivalent rating to the
ESRB
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings to consumer video games in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The ESRB was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Softw ...
's ''AO'' (adults only) rating but also an equivalent to its ''Mature'' (17+) rating. After Atkinson stepped down as Attorney-General in 2010, an R18+ rating for video games in Australia was eventually implemented in 2013.
In 2009, Atkinson, in his role as attorney-general of South Australia, introduced laws into parliament that made internet commentary on the upcoming 2010 election illegal unless the commenter provided their real name and postcode. The laws were passed, and came into effect on 6 January 2010. Following public criticism, Atkinson later promised to repeal the section following the 2010 South Australian election and indicated it would not be enforced during the electoral period.
Victims' rights
In 2008, Atkinson introduced legislation aimed at increasing the rights of victims of crime. The legislation purported to allow victims to suggest a suitable sentence for the offender and made it compulsory for judges to consider imposing a restraining order on convicted sex offenders.
Casting votes
During his time as speaker, Atkinson used his casting vote in Parliament to oppose several bills presented during the Weatherill government. These include a bill which would have allowed
transgender
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth.
The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
people to have their gender officially changed on their birth certificates and another bill intended to enable
voluntary euthanasia
Voluntary euthanasia is the purposeful ending of another person's life at their request, in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in the 21st century, ...