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Michael John Atkinson (born 17 June 1958), an Australian politician, is the current South Australian Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Veterans' Affairs, and Minister for Multicultural Affairs in the Rann Labor Government. He represents the electorate of Croydon in the South Australian House of Assembly.

Biography
Atkinson attended Glenelg Primary School and Unley High School. He then studied at the Australian National University and received a Bachelor of Arts (Hons), majoring in History and a Bachelor of Laws.

He worked as a sub-editor and journalist for the Adelaide Advertiser between 1982 and 1985, an advisor and press secretary to federal Minister Chris Hurford between 1985 and 1987, before becoming an advocate for the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association until his election.

On 15 March 1986, he married Joan (née Phyland) with whom he has three sons and a daughter.

Parliamentary career
A founding member of the Labor Unity faction of the Australian Labor Party, Atkinson was first elected to Parliament at the 1989 election and was a shadow minister in a range of portfolios before Labor won government at the 2002 election. He became Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Multicultural Affairs. In a minor cabinet reshuffle in 2004, Atkinson lost his portfolio of Consumer Affairs. Following the death of Terry Roberts he became Minister for Correctional Services in 2006.

He was re-elected in the 2006 election to the seat of Croydon with a two-party preferred vote of 76 percent.

Atkinson has blocked attempts to introduce a R18+ for video games in Australia. He has withdrawn his support for a discussion paper and public consultation on the subject of an "R18+" rating, but this paper has been released to the public. 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 current rating system lacks a classification for games above MA15+. It therefore lacks not only an equivalent rating to the ESRB's "AO" (Adults Only) but also an equivalent to the ESRB's "Mature" (17+) rating.