arrogance and hubris

Yesterday on MY 3AW radio programme I was talking about the federal Government’s radical plan to change industrial relations in  this country. Or WorkChoice as they now call it. And I speculated on how much their TV and radio and newspaper hard sell campaign was costing. The Labor Party says it is $100 million. There is another figure of $50 million. But the government won’t tell us.

As I said yesterday:

Now I know where the fifty million dollars – or maybe even 100 million dollars of your money -- is going to sell John Howard’s new, radical, Industrial Relations policies. We’ve all seen the plethora of TV commercials featuring so many “happy little Vegemities”.  But today the hard sell got under in earnest. An example: The Herald Sun and The Age had a Government advertisement that covers four full pages. Four pages!  How many thousands and thousands of dollars would that have cost? And it was repeated in newspapers all over the country. Stamped all over it – seven times – was an official looking message in red ink that said “protected by law”.

And you plough through the pages of spin and a lot of it is bureaucratic, governmental hogwash.  But the money splurge gets worse.  Howard’s mob must have hired a team of drunken sailors at your expense. Listen to this e-mail  I received overnight from an advertising agency “ focus group” as they call them.

She wrote:

“Derryn, I was involved in a focus group about 2 months ago regarding the government ad campaign for the new Industrial Relations changes.  This was done by Colmar Brunton, Australia wide.  We were paid $200 each for our opinions on the mock-up brochure and ad campaign they presented to us. They had 8 in our group and 2 people were turned away for being late (but still got their $200). Over 40 focus groups around Australia. I would prefer you don't use my name as I would like to continue doing these surveys and focus groups,  I don't have a problem with private enterprise wasting their money but I was quite surprised that the government would be paying such a large amount of money to us.  When they already pay an obscene amount of money to an Ad agency which you would think would already have this information.  So the wasteful nature of this campaign already started way before the general public had seen or heard any of the print and TV ads”.

This is obscene. And I know Labor governments have squandered taxpayers’ money on campaigns to win your hearts and minds when  they were in government. But this is just wanton waste. Wanton, reckless waste of millions and millions of your dollars. It is just not right. They have the numbers to pass the legislation in the Senate anyway.

As I said yesterday: How many hip replacements or knee operations could be funded with  100 million dollars.  These guys have lost the so-called common man. They have certainly lost me. This is your money, Ralph. This is a government – that may have good reforming policies – but they ARE drunken sailors when it comes to taxpayers’ money to sell their cause.

I want three answers. And I won’t get them. How much has the government committed to this media campaign? How much did they pay the advertising agency to develop and write the campaign?  How much did they pay the focus groups I mentioned around the country.

I put the questions but a government that has been in power for a decade gives arrogance and hubris a bad name.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

©Copyright Derryn Hinch 2005