‘Abuse’ of funds for political adverts

LABOR and Coalition state and federal governments “routinely” use public money to fund ads promoting their own achievements in a gross “abuse” of taxpayer dollars, a scathing new report has found.

Of the almost $200m spent each year by the federal government on advertising, about $50m is spent on politicised campaigns, analysis by the Grattan Institute has showed.

Over the past 13 years about $630m, or a quarter of all federal campaign advertising, was spent on campaigns spruiking government achievements, and spending “spiked” on the eve of each election.

Toward the end of their terms, governments “exploit their incumbency” to spend big on advertising to “boost their image,” which researchers argued created an “unfair disadvantage”.

The Grattan Institute report, New politics: Depoliticising taxpayer-funded advertising, released on Monday found use of taxpayer funds for politicised ads was a “problem on both sides of politics” and levels of government.

“...Federal and state governments on both sides of politics have sometimes spent public money to meet partisan goals rather than purely in the public interest,” the report said.

Researchers found of the 10 most expensive politicised federal campaigns in the past 13 years, half were approved by Labor governments and half by Coalition governments.

Grattan Institute chief executive Danielle Wood said government advertising campaigns should only be allowed where they were “necessary: to encourage specific actions or drive behaviour change. “Weaponising taxpayer-funded advertising for political advantage wastes public money, undermines trust in politicians and democracy, and creates an uneven playing field.”