Labor, Libs reject political ads call

The major parties have rejected a call from the Australian Greens for the
auditor-general to assess more expensive taxpayer-funded advertising.
Labor politicians have told a Senate legislation committee they appreciated the
sensitivity of public campaigns, but defended the government's decision to downgrade
the role of the Australian National Audit Office.
"The committee considers that the 2010 guidelines meet the requirements of
transparency and rigour with regard to the oversight of proposed government
advertising," committee chair Helen Polley said.
"The committee appreciates that advertising by government has long been a sensitive
issue."
Liberal Party committee members Helen Kroger and Scott Ryan said requiring
auditor-general Ian McPhee to assess political ads costing more than $250,000 would
compromise his independence.
"Coalition senators have genuine concerns with placing the auditor-general in such a
role," they said.
"Proponents of this bill have not sufficiently addressed the concern that it may not
be appropriate for the auditor-general to be involved in the creation of a campaign,
to approve a campaign and then retrospectively assess such campaigns through the
process of performance audits."
In a dissenting report, Australian Greens leader Bob Brown expressed disappointment
at the rejection of his private senator's bill, requiring the auditor-general to
assess all government advertising worth more than $250,000 before it is published or
broadcast.
"The committee, in its concluding comments ... fails to acknowledge the widespread
community concern about this critical issue," he said.
Senator Brown's Preventing the Misuse of Government Advertising Bill 2010 was
introduced last week, and referred to the Finance and Public Administration
Legislation Committee.
The government has copped political heat for spending $38.5 million of taxpayer
funds to sell its mining tax as the Minerals Council Australia bankrolls an
expensive media campaign.
In March, former senior public servant Allan Hawke conducted a review on government
advertising, and recommended the scrutiny role of the auditor-general be abolished
and limited to an annual performance review.