Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, this issue of government advertising was, of course, exhaustively discussed at Senate estimates, but I am delighted to talk about it again. This government is a reformist government. We have much to communicate to the Australian people. There is a significant and well-established precedent from the former Labor government—and, indeed, state Labor governments, who have set new benchmarks in this area—for using advertising to communicate government policies and changes to government policies. Indeed, as a result of our changes to workplace relations, private health insurance and superannuation, we have taken advantage of the opportunity to properly inform Australians of those changes through factual government advertising.

In relation to the industrial relations campaign to which Senator Wong refers, for the campaign to date, in relation to changes that we are making to industrial relations arrangements, the media cost of advertising has been about $3.5 million for the week of 20 May 2007, plus other non-campaign advertising. I would add, in relation to the slur upon on the advertising that Senator Wong casts in suggesting that it is anything other than factual, that there was a very interesting report in the Age of 1 June quoting an actor, Alan Fletcher, whose voice was used in the voice-over in the government’s advertisements. He was quoted as saying:

The workplace relations ad appeared to me to be a non-political commercial that advertised changes to the law and how to get information about those changes.

The ad offered no endorsement of Government policy on workplace relations and, as such, did not conflict with my personal principles.

I note that this Mr Fletcher is the federal vice-president of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, as well as a professional actor.

The government has no embarrassment whatsoever in properly advertising its changes to workplace relations. Workplace relations does affect millions of Australians. These are important changes. It is important that Australians have the facts in relation to this advertising.