More on Government advertising – 40 odd pages worth, to be exact. It’s
Special Minister of State Eric Abetz’s submission to the Senate inquiry
looking at the matter – read it here.

The Government is feeling bolshie. Where are the submissions from Richo
or Ros Kelly or John Brown or Bob McMullan or Nick Bolkus or Frank
Walker or any other past Labor head of the ministerial committee on
government communications, they ask. The Government is using Labor’s
rules, after all, they say. The ALP wouldn’t just be chasing headlines,
would they?

And what was behind the spit between Abetz and Clerk of the Senate
Harry Evans we referred to yesterday? Evans can be a hair splitter. It
sorta goes with the turf – and, yes, I’ve been on the receiving end as
a staffer.

Government sources say that Evans went too far – and should have known
he was going too far – with his comments about awarding advertising
contracts to agencies and research companies who then would work on
election campaigns. The Government argues that they assemble
advertising teams in house to run their campaigns. It’s been a long
time since that Patrick Cook cartoon of Malcolm Fraser knocking on a
door marked “Masius: Advertisers to the Gentry” was relevant. Evans
went too far, these insiders say, having a shot at Ministers Minchin,
Ellison.

It’s pure BS. And you know why? Because Crosby-Textor has
never had any government work. And the Libs don’t use ad agencies
any more to run their election campaigns, and haven’t done so since 1993.
Harry went way too far this time – he’s been pushing the envelope for a
while – but to make serious allegations of corruption against Abetz,
Ellison and Minchin (all former chairs of the MCGC) without a shred of
evidence is just not on. Nobody is going to cop that!