Western Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter is being urged by the WA Liberal Party State Council to support the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games. Porter met with other federal, state, and territory Attorneys-General at last Friday's Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) meeting in Canberra, where he and other ministers decided to delay the vote on the introduction of an adult classification for games in favour of drafting a set of guidelines that will look at defining how a possible R18+ rating would sit alongside the current MA15+ and Refused Classification categories.
Rumours surrounding Friday's SCAG meeting speculated Porter would wait until he met with his cabinet before taking a definitive stance on the R18+ issue; on December 6, he told GameSpot AU he had yet to make up his mind, while media reports from last week suggested he was under pressure from his party room--composed of 12 Liberal and National government MPs--to not support the R18+ rating.
"The Minister will participate in further discussions at the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting before determining his position on the matter," a spokeswoman for Mr. Porter told GameSpot AU last Monday.
Now, it seems Porter's political peers want him to support the introduction of R18+ for games. At a meeting of the Western Australian Liberal Party's State Council held during the weekend, delegates voted on and passed the following motion, obtained by GameSpot AU:
"That this State Council urges the Attorney General of Western Australia to support the introduction of a nationwide R18+ classification for computer and video games."
It is now confirmed that Porter will release a media statement outlining his final stance on R18+ for games after he meets with Cabinet. GameSpot AU will continue to update this story as news becomes available.
For more on the issue, visit GameSpot AU's previous coverage.