Taxpayers 'should not fund spin doctors' Milanda Rout From: The
Australian September 10, 2010 12:00AM
THE Brumby government's 22-strong media unit should be funded by the
ALP and not the taxpayer if its function is purely political and to
ensure Labor's re-election, political analysts said yesterday.
Ken Coghill, a former Labor MP and speaker of the Victorian parliament
who now lecturers in governance at Monash University, said if media
minders are to stay on the public payroll they should be accountable
and subject to Freedom of Information Laws.
His comments follow the refusal by the Premier John Brumby to release
the government's media plans to the Opposition under FOI laws, arguing
that the Premier's media unit is purely political and not part of
government policy or business.
The dispute ended up in the Victorian Civil and Administrative
Tribunal on Wednesday, where the government's lawyers and one of its
chief spin doctors contended the purpose of the media unit was "party
political" and its main aims were to enhance the role of the
government and ensure re-election.
Principal media advisor Alison Crosweller, formerly a journalist for
The Australian, testified that the job of a media advisor included "to
promote the political image of the government in the community".
Lawyers for the government argued that the media unit, along with its
ministerial media plans and "master" media plans, had nothing to do
with government business and therefore did not need to be disclosed
under the FOI legislation that binds public servants.
Dr Coghill disagrees, telling The Australian the position taken by the
government is wrong. "The general principle is that if people are on
the public payroll, they should be accountable for what they are
doing," he said. "The public have the right to information, to
documents created by government in other areas ... so this
(information) should be available."
Dr Coghill, who was speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1988 to
1992, said that if the argument put forward by government lawyers is
right and the media unit is simply party political, then it should not
be funded by the taxpayer. "If it's a function simply on behalf of
Labor, then clearly that's a matter for Labor to resource," he said.
"These matters should be funded through the political party."
Political commentator Nick Economou said that media units had been
around for a long time -- in both Labor and Liberal governments -- and
parties were entitled to keep their political and media strategies
confidential.
He also said that the taxpayer funds ministerial staff -- including
media advisors -- for the opposition.
The VCAT decision on the FOI request, filed by opposition security of
government spokesman, David Davis, is due in three weeks.
--
Urvashi Sharma
RTI Helpmail( Web Based )
aishwaryaj2010@gmail.com
Mobile Rti Helpline
8081898081 ( 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. )
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