Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in this adjournment debate to comment upon Labor’s Waste Watch committee’s annual report into Howard government waste. As deputy chair of the task force that was set up by Kim Beazley and caucus, I am delighted to indicate that the second report has been issued under my name and the name of the member for Prospect. Can I make it very clear that the members of the committee include the members for Prospect, Chisholm, Adelaide, and Parramatta and also Bernie Ripoll, who is a very important member as well as being a shadow parliamentary secretary.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Would the member refer to members by their seat.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, thank you very much, Mr Speaker. The report is a very important one. It has involved an enormous amount of work. Whilst I am happy to talk about some of the issues raised in the report, I want to pay particular tribute to the chair of the committee, the member for Prospect, and his staff who, I have no doubt, have forensically examined the way in which the government has expended money wastefully.

The report, Waste watch: investigating Howard government waste, is a very important document. It should be read by all of—

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It’s not very thick, I notice.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is very succinct, Minister. We have decided to do it in shorthand and we do not have waffling contributions such as those that you make in question time, I assure you. Actually, they are to the point, direct and honest.

The report’s main finding was that this government continues to spend record amounts of taxpayer funds on government advertising, public relations, market research and leadership coaching. It is estimated the Howard government has cracked $1.5 billion on advertising since 1996. You can add that to the $20 million tax funded advertising blitz on the T3 sale as the federal government attempts to sell the public more of its own asset.

Also, there is the $2.6 million spent on advertising the LPG vehicle scheme. The government LPG conversion package received wall-to-wall free media coverage when it was announced but, no, that was not enough, and the government pushed ahead with another big taxpayer funded advertising spree. Answers to questions placed on the Notice Paper by the member for Prospect—the chair of Waste Watch—revealed that $2.6 million of LPG scheme advertising included 809 advertisements in 302 newspapers across the country and 7,200 advertisements on 127 different radio stations. All this begs the question: what use is a $2.6 million advertising campaign to car owners while they wait for up to six months for an LPG conversion?

The forward estimates in the 2006 budget show over a quarter of a billion dollars being allocated for spending on 13 advertising campaigns in the lead-up to next year’s federal election. One of these campaigns is a $13 million financial literacy advertising campaign, which I must say is particularly insulting to families who are coping with seven straight interest rate rises under this government, not to mention high petrol prices and other rises in the cost of living.

In 2005-06, 14 government departments spent $863,780 on leadership coaching for senior bureaucrats. This will more than likely reach $1 million after all the answers from the other departments are in. Senior bureaucrats are, frankly, very well paid and the taxpayer should not be forking out for leadership coaches to encourage better performance from them. The cost of leadership coaches varied from $250 per hour in the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources up to $924 per session for the Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

In 2004, the Howard government spent over $26 million on opinion polls and market research. This year 10 government departments have answered Waste Watch’s questions on opinion polling, and already the figure has hit $22 million, with more departments yet to answer. Again, the worst offender in 2005 was—surprise, surprise!—the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, which registered a 1,468 per cent increase in its opinion polling bill. Effectively, we have had one wasteful expenditure after another in each government department. (Time expired)