Ruddock fury over
Woomera computer game

It's a dose of virtual reality that the Immigration Minister could probably do without: a computer game in which players try to escape from Australian detention centres has received $25,000 in federal funding.

The game, Escape from Woomera, will be modelled on four of the country's most contentious detention centres. It received the money from the Australia Council, the federal arts funding body, last month.

The council has defended the grant, saying it was impressed by the merits of the application. But the minister, Philip Ruddock, most certainly was not.

A screen grab from the new video game, Escape from Woomera.

"The decision reflects poorly upon the Australia Council and its judgement, that the organisation should lend its name to the promotion of unlawful behaviour," Mr Ruddock said yesterday.

A ministerial spokeswoman added that the office would be contacting the Australia Council to "express a fairly firm view about the allocation of (its) resources". But she said the minister did not have the power to withdraw the funding.

A creator of a contentious computer game in which players try to escape from the Woomera detention centre defended the game from an avalanche of criticism.

The game, Escape from Woomera, attracted a $25,000 grant from the Australia Council - a move which Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock criticised as poor judgment.

Mr Ruddock and refugee groups lambasted the game's creators for encouraging people to take part in illegal activities and trivialising the plight of asylum seekers.

But Melbourne-based freelance journalist and researcher for the game, Kate Wild, said Escape from Woomera was merely taking activism on the issue of detaining asylum seekers to a new medium.

"We have expressed the concern of refugee groups in a medium people are not used to, a more modern medium," Ms Wild said.

She said only people outside detention centres were likely to play the game, which is in a very early stage of development.

"I would like to know how this is encouraging people to break the law."

She described the Australia Council's stand against criticism as courageous, especially given it was the first grant for a computer game.

"We are heartened and pleased the Australia Council has stood firm."

Ms Wild said the level of furore created by the grant indicated the politically charged atmosphere surrounding the detention of asylum seekers.

The Woomera centre is currently mothballed but was the scene of some of the most aggressive confrontations between police and demonstrators.

A sample of the game could be on the Internet in six months but the full game was $200,000 and two years away from full development, Ms Wild said.

The $25,000 grant last month prompted Port Augusta Mayor Joy Baluch to accuse the council of acting like a traitor to its country.

But the council's new media arts board chairman Michael Snelling defended the grant, saying the project was worthy of development.

The government is prohibited from giving any direction to the council on funding and Arts Minister Rod Kemp has no power to withdraw the money.

But he has demanded an explanation from the council.

"The minister is greatly concerned if taxpayer dollars had been used to effectively advocate activities which are clearly against the law," Senator

Kemp's spokesman said.

Apart from making a mockery of Australia's mandatory detention policy for asylum seekers, Mr Ruddock said the game reflected badly on the Australia Council for promoting unlawful activity.

"It's not about government policy. Lots and lots of agencies that are funded by the government fund activities that are contrary to government policy," his spokeswoman said.

Head of the Refugee Council of Australia, Margaret Piper, said the video game was one issue upon which she agreed with Mr Ruddock.

"It is trivialising something that's very serious," she said.

"To make a game out of this is something that I just feel deeply uncomfortable about."

©AAP 2003

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/Sci_Tech/story_48151.asp

Computer game's irony escapes Ruddock

01.05.2003

The developers of a computer game in which players try to escape from Australia's camps for asylum seekers have been awarded an arts council grant.

The federally funded Australia Council decided to give the creators of Escape from Woomera A$25,000 ($28,137) to develop the software.

"It's not a big deal, it's a bit of art," said Michael Snelling, chairman of the council's new media board.

Players have to try to escape the outback camps where illegal immigrants are locked up, by digging tunnels, scaling fences or getting help from refugee activists.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock was not amused by the use of federal money. "It's promoting unlawful behaviour, I think that's what the minister's concerned primarily about, but also it's in extraordinarily bad taste," said a spokeswoman.

May 2nd, 2003 5:00 PM

"Ruddock Fury Over Woomera Computer Game." What the fuck does that mean? Ask an Aussie: Woomera is the name of a refugee detention center Down Under, and Phillip Ruddock is the Australian immigration minister. The headline on TheAge.com.au refers to a PC game, Escape From Woomera, which is being developed using a $25,000 grant from the Australia Council, a government arts fund. Who hasn't yearned to be a detained refugee? Finally, the game's creators promise, players will live the fantasy, plotting breakouts by tunneling underground, climbing fences, or even hiring lawyers—all while being subjected to hyper-realistic drudgery like regular meals, scheduled at the same time as in the actual prison, and "episodic violence." If only we knew where they were being kept, we could program a version for America's Muslim detainees!

Pro-refugee computer game sparks controversy

by Arun Pradhan

Green Left Weekly, May 11

"[Computer] games are potentially the most subversive media forms of
our time", Kipper, the initiator of Escape from Woomera, told Green
Left Weekly. Drawing on first-hand testimonies, media reports and
government documents, this unique game concept strives to represent
Woomera detention centre in virtual reality. It has already received
positive responses from past and present detainees.

Using her "gaming name" to maintain professional anonymity, Kipper's
aims are clear: "We aren't just about making a media splash, we are
going to create a game that people play and that systematically
documents every racist nuance of the asylum process and the
institutional racism of Australia's immigration policies."

Actively involved in refugees' rights activist groups, Kipper's
ambitious vision began just weeks before the Tampa crisis in August
2001. Her idea recently became the topic of national debate after she
received a $25,000 pre-production grant from the Australia Council.
Federal minister for immigration Philip Ruddock was quick to condemn
the Australia Council, which he claimed had "lended its name to the
promotion of unlawful behaviour".

"I would have thought that locking people up in breach of
international law is the real crime", Kipper told GLW. She noted that
many computer games portray "illegal acts", pointing to the best-
selling PlayStation game, Grand Theft Auto III, in which players
steal cars, act as hitmen and sleep with prostitutes. "The real
difference is that our game injects something that is socially
progressive", Kipper said.

Kipper was not surprised when some refugees' rights groups, including
the Refugee Council of Australia, supported Ruddock's criticism,
claiming that the game would "trivialise" the plight of refugees.
While acknowledging that various groups would always pursue different
tactics, Kipper felt that such criticism exposed a prejudice against
youth culture.

Kipper told GLW that Escape from Woomera is to be a "multi-strategy"
game. "Players will need to employ various escape and survival
strategies", Kipper explained, including working through bureaucratic
and legal channels or "breaking out in the tradition of stealth-based
adventure games... it obviously won't be Quake style!".

"Ideally it will promote empathy with the plight of refugees and
allow people to make choices under difficult circumstances", Kipper
said. Rather than focusing on refugees as victims or criminals,
Kipper hoped that the game would reflect their heroism.

Jody Betzien from Refugee Action Collective in Melbourne has welcomed
the initiative. "The sentiment for justice is growing and that is
reflected in plays, books, documentaries and now computer games. Each
initiative helps get the truth out and push more people into action."

The opportunity to work on a game free of corporate agendas has had
wide appeal and the team behind Escape from Woomera includes several
of Melbourne's most established gaming professionals. Kipper is
confident that the game will be completed despite the need for more
funds.

More information about the game will soon be available at
http://www.escapefromwoomera.org