The State Liberals have called on the Weatherill Government to publicly disclose all
government advertising costs on a monthly basis ahead of the 2018 state election.
“The Weatherill Labor Government’s political advertising has reached unprecedented levels, with taxpayers footing the bill for almost $10 million spent on political ads in the last 12 months alone,” said Shadow Treasurer Rob Lucas.
“The public disclosure of monthly government advertising costs would give South Australians the opportunity to judge for themselves whether the amounts spent by the State Government on advertising is a good use of public money.
“It would also allow South Australian taxpayers to see for themselves the outrageous amounts of money wasted on blatantly political advertising campaigns which Labor pays for out of the public purse.
“While the current State Government has gone some way to improve transparency with its
opaque public disclosure of Ministerial office and travel expenses, this move to fully disclose government monthly advertising costs would be a genuine improvement to transparency and accountability measures in South Australia.”
The bill for the Weatherill Government’s recent $9.7 million advertising binge includes
advertising campaigns for:
• JOB EX – $840,000
• Electricity plan – $2.6 million
• Education plan – $1.8 million
• Job Accelerator Grant Scheme – $1.5 million plus
• Future Jobs Fund – $1.3 million
• 2016-17 State Budget – $523,000
• New Royal Adelaide Hospital – $450,000 plus
“Jay Weatherill and Tom Koutsantonis could make these monthly disclosures immediately if they are committed to transparency and accountability.
“If they refuse, it will be clear to South Australians that this secretive government will stop at nothing to avoid transparency and accountability ahead of the state election.”