House debates
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Questions without Notice
Advertising Campaigns
2:58 pm
Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is again to the Prime Minister and I refer to his previous answer when he said that no material has yet been approved for distribution for his so far non-existent taxpayer funded advertising campaign. I refer also to comments made in Senate estimates last week by the head of the Government Communications Unit, Mr Robert McMahon, that ‘until a campaign starts in the media it is not a communications campaign’. Is it the Prime Minister’s position to the parliament that his taxpayer funded climate change advertising campaign has not yet commenced despite the fact that taxpayers’ funds have already been spent on the design of a brochure and a letter to go to millions of households, opinion poll testing of that material, the filming of television advertisements, the opinion poll testing of those advertisements and the booking of air time to show those advertisements? Isn’t the Prime Minister’s clever language on his PR campaign just too clever by half?
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
What I think is too clever by half in this debate is to set a target without knowing the economic consequences of it. That is what the Leader of the Opposition has done.
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I can only repeat—
Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Price interjecting
David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The Chief Opposition Whip is warned!
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
that something is approved—
Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Byrne interjecting
John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
when it receives the imprimatur of the minister. As a former public servant, the Leader of the Opposition ought to know that, no matter how powerful the public servant might think he or she is, until something is approved by a minister it does not happen. It remains the case that no material has been approved.
Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Swan interjecting
Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Mr Tanner interjecting
David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The member for Melbourne has been warned but he continues to interject. He will remove himself under standing order 94(a).
The member for Melbourne then left the chamber.