Vic Libs want watchdog for govt ads

A panel headed by a retired judge will have the power to ban taxpayer-funded
political advertisements if the Victorian opposition wins government.
In a move to push taxpayer-funded political advertising into the spotlight before
the November 27 poll, the coalition introduced a bill on the issue into the
Victorian parliament on Wednesday.
Under the proposal, multimillion-dollar advertisements such as the "It's part of the
plan" transport commercials and the "Shine" campaign promoting public schools would
be banned.
The government would not be able to run taxpayer-funded advertising campaigns ahead
of a state election or by-election.
An independent review panel of at least five people, including a former Supreme or
County Court judge as chair, would decide whether to allow publicly funded
government advertising campaigns by assessing them against set criteria.
But the government would decide who would sit on the panel to rule on its own ads.
Exemptions would be made for advertisements concerning road safety, health issues
and emergencies.
Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said the coalition was fulfilling a promise made by
Premier John Brumby when he was opposition leader in 1995 to ban taxpayer-funded
political advertisements.
"All Victorians have been concerned for a long time about the extraordinary increase
in the amount of taxpayer-funded political advertising," Mr Baillieu told reporters
in Melbourne.
"We look forward to the government actually supporting this bill."
He challenged Mr Brumby in parliament on the issue, demanding he confirm the state
government devoted $115 million to taxpayer-funded advertising in 2009, which was
the same amount commonwealth departments and agencies spent on ads for the entire
nation.
The premier said most taxpayer-funded advertisements related to public safety.
He did not confirm how much the government had spent on ads last year.
"I don't have a quantum," he told parliament.
"What I do know is that the vast majority of the advertising which has occurred is
directed either at saving people's lives or improving public safety."
The premier said he made no apologies for advertisements such as those aimed at
recruiting Ambulance Victoria members, increasing pap smear screening rates and
Transport Accident Commission campaigns.
Introducing the Government Political Advertising Bill into the Legislative Assembly,
opposition scrutiny of government spokesman David Davis said that in 2008 the
government spent more on advertising than companies including the big banks.
"The government is addicted to manipulating the truth," he told parliament.
"Government political advertising is just another means of this."
He criticised government advertising campaigns including advertisements spruiking a
yet-to-be built cancer centre and the Victorian economy's performance during the
global financial crisis with the slogan "We're not waiting, we're building."
The opposition needs the support of Democratic Labor Party MP Peter Kavanagh and the
three Greens MPs to push the bill through the upper house.
Mr Kavanagh is in favour of the bill, while Greens MP Sue Pennicuik said her party
supported the principle of banning taxpayer-funded political advertising but she was
yet to examine the bill.
The bill is expected to be debated in the upper house on September 15.



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