Taxpayers are on the hook for a $5.2 million campaign to promote the government’s online safety reforms in the lead-up to next year’s election, as Scott Morrison looks to make it a major political issue.
In last year’s federal budget, $23.2 million was earmarked for addressing online harm. Of that, $5.2 million was allocated to promote the government’s online safety laws, including the recently passed Online Safety Act which is due to come into force in January.
In an October Senate estimates hearing, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications assistant secretary Susan Charles said the advertising campaign was timed to come into effect “likely January”.
Since then, the government has made it clear that its suite of tech reforms will be one of the major planks of its reelection campaign. In addition to the Online Safety Act, the government has proposed an online privacy bill and a social media anti-trolling bill.
“Our government is stepping up and standing up for those who need to be stood up to … And so that is why our government has taken an important decision. We will be introducing legislation in addition to all the other legislation we have already introduced,” Morrison said in November.
With an election due in the first half of next year, the Morrison government will have a multimillion-dollar, publicly funded campaign that spruiks one of the main messages it wants to take to the election.
It’s not the first time government MPs have been accused of using publicly funded campaigns for political purposes. At the same estimates session the same department was asked about Liberal MPs using government advertisements spruiking the government’s climate change achievements on their personal social media profiles.
As Crikey reported in November, the “Australia’s making positive energy” campaign spent $26,000 in its first week on Facebook ads. It’s clocked up more than $200,000 on ads in the month since.
During that hearing, Labor Senator Nita Green compared it to the forthcoming online safety campaign, asking the department secretary, Simon Atkinson, whether this campaign was created to be used by Liberal MPs.
“It’s not the intention,” he said.
Does anyone anywhere believe them?
It’s scary.
“Our government is stepping up and standing up for those who need to be stood up to … ,” Morrison said
Morrison has promised to reform whistleblower laws. An independent review called for urgent reform in 2016. In December 2020, the Morrison government belatedly accepted the review’s recommendations. Another 12 months on, no progress has been made.
We still have no Federal ICAC with corruption rampant.
Will Australians believe Morrison can or will do anything for their online safety?
“standing up for those who need to be stood up to” like Asange and Collaery – you seem to misunderstand it is not whistleblower protection but whistleblower persecution.
a well resourced tranbsparent independent federal ICAC is the LAST thing he wants and judges, QCs etc etc across the nation have blasted the rubbish ve4rsion created by Christian Porter
Of course he will. Scotty will make an announcement, you wait and see. And in a year or two if we’re lucky enough to still have him as our leader he’ll re-announce it. Absolutely definitely. Like he always does. Don’t ever think Scotty will just announce a policy and then leave it at that, no no no.
Geez I hope the Government didn’t pay too much of taxpayer dollars for their idiotic television advertising for protecting against cyber crime.
Ridiculously, one ad showed a young woman, the other an older one – no men in the ads – so I can only assume the Federal government thinks women don’t know how to protect their online safety but men do?
Yeah right!
I’m married to an older man who despite my best efforts to show him how to protect himself online, still doesn’t get it. He happily clicks on anything that friends send him, or that he sees on dreaded Facebook, without any thought
Maybe I should send the government his details so they can make the appropriate advertisement for older men? (•‿•)
Marcia, encourage your beloved to be careful what he
wishesclicks for.Get ready for a visit from the AFP.funsters!Yes I understand your concerns I have a wife who does exactly the same thing
WHAT? Morrison et al yet again treating women like lower class?
Today I got a letter signed by Morrison, Hunt and the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer letting me know that COVID-19 boosters are available. It was addressed to the householder and came with a document intended to be kept to remind people that the Commonwealth Government is providing vaccine boosters.
They’ll milk the Covid stuff to the limit, even though they aggravated it in the first place!
Yes, Drandy, there are multiple government efforts to:
Ahhhhh yes. Morrison who received Pfizer when it was technically NOT authorised for his age then received the booster the very moment that he could. ALWAYS placing his own interests ahead of every and any one else.
$ 5.2 million is just a warm-up to loosen the public purse strings all legal . Until the election date is decided the public purse will be given a hiding . And then of course we will have the rorts and lies as per the last election And the final miracle will be $ 80 million dollars worth of preferences from a grateful friend .It’s like paying someone to bash you up.