[LINK] Adverts on govt websites
Jan Whitaker
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
Tue Jan 21 10:01:22 AEDT 2014
I have adblock on my browser so I seldom see any ads at all. This one
caught me by surprise as a result:
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/ads-to-stay-on-weather-bureau-website-20140120-314uc.html
Commercial advertising will be a permanent feature of the Bureau of
Meteorology website and the federal government has refused to rule
out running ads on other publicly funded websites.
In April the Gillard government introduced the first trial of
advertising on a government website on the bureau site for one year.
But, after Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey warned
of steep spending cuts with the next budget, a government spokeswoman
refused to rule out the spread of commercial advertising to websites
such as Centrelink, the Australian Taxation Office and Australian Job Search.
[snip]
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So now we pay tax plus we are 'sold' (for those who see the ads) to
commercial outfits as well? Something's wrong in there. The article
sites dependence for budget.
Another aspect of 'self-funding' that has begun in the public service
and various commissions. I'm aware of a policy for that in of all
things: AUSTRAC.
Maybe the thing that is bothering me is that the govt sets up
regulatory offices then charges those being regulated to pay for
them, so has zero incentive to determine the priority of a budget
line to pay for it in the first place. Quite a racket, if you ask me.
Jan
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer
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