❓ Question on government advertising spending, comparing the current Liberal-National government's expenditure to the previous Labor government's, with accusations of political advertising.
AnsweredQoN 454Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE GOVERNMENT PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN
454. Mr P.T. MILES to the Treasurer:
On Sunday, the state government launched a Western Australian–first
public information campaign, gettingthebigpicture.com, which coordinates the
traffic and travel information —
Several opposition members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mandurah, I formally call you to order for the
first time today. Members, to repeat something that I have said in this place
before, I expect that when a member is on his or her feet asking a question, he
or she will not be interrupted.
Mr P.T. MILES :
This campaign will coordinate the traffic and travel information together with
information on the Liberal–National government's major
transformation projects such as Elizabeth Quay —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I am absolutely sure you are not deaf—I
have spoken to you and you have spoken back—but at this point I am
formally going to call you to order for the second and third time today. If
members continue to interject during another member's question, member
for Warnbro, I will formally call them to order. I am going to give the member
for Wanneroo the opportunity to ask his question.
Mr
P.T. MILES : I note recent comments from the opposition about the state
government's campaign, and I ask the Treasurer whether he could outline
to the house how the advertising campaign compares to that of the former
government.
454. Mr P.T. MILES to the Treasurer:
On Sunday, the state government launched a Western Australian–first
public information campaign, gettingthebigpicture.com, which coordinates the
traffic and travel information —
Several opposition members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mandurah, I formally call you to order for the
first time today. Members, to repeat something that I have said in this place
before, I expect that when a member is on his or her feet asking a question, he
or she will not be interrupted.
Mr P.T. MILES :
This campaign will coordinate the traffic and travel information together with
information on the Liberal–National government's major
transformation projects such as Elizabeth Quay —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I am absolutely sure you are not deaf—I
have spoken to you and you have spoken back—but at this point I am
formally going to call you to order for the second and third time today. If
members continue to interject during another member's question, member
for Warnbro, I will formally call them to order. I am going to give the member
for Wanneroo the opportunity to ask his question.
Mr
P.T. MILES : I note recent comments from the opposition about the state
government's campaign, and I ask the Treasurer whether he could outline
to the house how the advertising campaign compares to that of the former
government.
AnswerView source ↗
I thank very much the member for Wanneroo.
I sure can! We were in opposition at one stage, and I
remember at the time we used to criticise the then government for spending a
lot on advertising. One of the reasons was that in 2007–08, the then
government set a world record for government advertising in Western Australia.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : A
world record!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It was a world record for government advertising in Western Australia of $36.6 million.
This chart is a little difficult to see across the chamber,
so I will probably table it so that everyone can have a look today. The red
line is the important one; it shows total government advertising spend across
the last 10 years. It shows in some detail that in the last three years of
Labor in government, the average annual spend on advertising was $30 million.
In the last three years of this government, the average annual spend on
advertising was $22 million. That is $24 million not spent on advertising. That
is a primary school less. When members look at the figures, they will
understand that the former government was absolutely addicted to advertising.
I heard a rumour the other week that the former government
was so addicted to advertising that it had a subcommittee of cabinet that
oversaw advertising, which was headed by the now Leader of the Opposition, the
member for Rockingham. It was a subcommittee of cabinet that doled it out. I
was interested to look at the comments of the Leader of the Opposition this
morning on 720 ABC radio. It is a very interesting read. Mr McGlue said, ''Labor
did exactly the same thing when it was in government.'' Mark McGowan
said, ''Well, we didn't.'' Mr McGlue responded, ''Well,
you did'', to which Mr McGowan said, ''No, we didn't.''
When the Leader of the Opposition was the minister for liquor and racing and
all those sorts of things, he got some aspects of the small bar reform through.
I just want to show the house the sorts of ads that the current Leader of the
Opposition produced to support small bar reform. Do members know how much the
opposition spent on small bar reform advertising in six weeks? It was about one
million bucks. It went on an absolute drunken splurge right across the state
with $1 million spent in six weeks for advertisements in the Skywest magazine,
in Scoop magazine and in The West Australian magazine—all
political advertising.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
If members really want a lesson in political advertising, they need to look at
the famous Labor government's Building WA campaign. The Building WA
campaign emerged out of the 2008 budget. Here is a copy of one of the full-page
ads that was produced to support —
A member interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It is blue, too. The 2008 Building WA election campaign came out of the budget
and it then flowed on. Members opposite were that committed to it that they
produced a style guide that went to every single Western Australian government
agency telling them how to incorporate the Building WA campaign into their
day-to-day work, their day-to-day advertising, the signs they stuck up and all
those sorts of things.
I get a bit of a sense of when something is political
advertising. I know something is political advertising when I see a picture of
the then Premier Alan Carpenter talking at the 2008 state ALP conference and
the sign on the podium is ''Building WA''.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Maylands, I formally call you to order for the first time today.
Member for Victoria Park, I have given you some latitude, but I formally call
you to order for the second time today. Treasurer, you have been on your feet a
while.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am all but done.
The point I am trying to make is
that it is political advertising when the taxpayer pays to fund a slogan that
morphs into the Labor Party's political slogan and sits on the front of
the leader's podium. I know why members opposite are excited: by my
recollection, 2008 was the last time they held a state conference.
I sure can! We were in opposition at one stage, and I
remember at the time we used to criticise the then government for spending a
lot on advertising. One of the reasons was that in 2007–08, the then
government set a world record for government advertising in Western Australia.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : A
world record!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It was a world record for government advertising in Western Australia of $36.6 million.
This chart is a little difficult to see across the chamber,
so I will probably table it so that everyone can have a look today. The red
line is the important one; it shows total government advertising spend across
the last 10 years. It shows in some detail that in the last three years of
Labor in government, the average annual spend on advertising was $30 million.
In the last three years of this government, the average annual spend on
advertising was $22 million. That is $24 million not spent on advertising. That
is a primary school less. When members look at the figures, they will
understand that the former government was absolutely addicted to advertising.
I heard a rumour the other week that the former government
was so addicted to advertising that it had a subcommittee of cabinet that
oversaw advertising, which was headed by the now Leader of the Opposition, the
member for Rockingham. It was a subcommittee of cabinet that doled it out. I
was interested to look at the comments of the Leader of the Opposition this
morning on 720 ABC radio. It is a very interesting read. Mr McGlue said, ''Labor
did exactly the same thing when it was in government.'' Mark McGowan
said, ''Well, we didn't.'' Mr McGlue responded, ''Well,
you did'', to which Mr McGowan said, ''No, we didn't.''
When the Leader of the Opposition was the minister for liquor and racing and
all those sorts of things, he got some aspects of the small bar reform through.
I just want to show the house the sorts of ads that the current Leader of the
Opposition produced to support small bar reform. Do members know how much the
opposition spent on small bar reform advertising in six weeks? It was about one
million bucks. It went on an absolute drunken splurge right across the state
with $1 million spent in six weeks for advertisements in the Skywest magazine,
in Scoop magazine and in The West Australian magazine—all
political advertising.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Victoria Park!
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
If members really want a lesson in political advertising, they need to look at
the famous Labor government's Building WA campaign. The Building WA
campaign emerged out of the 2008 budget. Here is a copy of one of the full-page
ads that was produced to support —
A member interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It is blue, too. The 2008 Building WA election campaign came out of the budget
and it then flowed on. Members opposite were that committed to it that they
produced a style guide that went to every single Western Australian government
agency telling them how to incorporate the Building WA campaign into their
day-to-day work, their day-to-day advertising, the signs they stuck up and all
those sorts of things.
I get a bit of a sense of when something is political
advertising. I know something is political advertising when I see a picture of
the then Premier Alan Carpenter talking at the 2008 state ALP conference and
the sign on the podium is ''Building WA''.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Maylands, I formally call you to order for the first time today.
Member for Victoria Park, I have given you some latitude, but I formally call
you to order for the second time today. Treasurer, you have been on your feet a
while.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am all but done.
The point I am trying to make is
that it is political advertising when the taxpayer pays to fund a slogan that
morphs into the Labor Party's political slogan and sits on the front of
the leader's podium. I know why members opposite are excited: by my
recollection, 2008 was the last time they held a state conference.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.