Bundaberg Now set for review following Blackburn victory

A target of new Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn since 2020 when she labelled it a “propaganda machine”, the new leader has revealed her next steps in regards to the council-run “good news” website Bundaberg Now.

The fate of the ratepayer-funded “good news” website Bundaberg Now is one of the most eagerly anticipated outcomes of the 2024 Bundaberg council election.

One of the most eagerly anticipated outcomes of Bundaberg’s new-look council is the fate of the ratepayer-funded “good news” website Bundaberg Now.

Newly elected mayor Helen Blackburn flagged a review of Bundaberg Now as one of her first objectives if elected, citing “competitive neutrality”, the principle enshrined in state and commonwealth legislation that publicly owned businesses should not enjoy an unfair advantage over private businesses, as one of her concerns.

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The fate of the ratepayer-funded “good news” website Bundaberg Now is one of the most eagerly anticipated outcomes of the 2024 Bundaberg council election.

“We need to have a look at the business units within council and look at those business units that are commercial in nature and make sure that there’s no competitive neutrality there that is a deficit to the community and those organisations that are private organisations,” Ms Blackburn said during a press conference on March 12.

Bundaberg Now has long been in the sights of Ms Blackburn, who described it as a “propaganda machine” in her first mayoral tilt in 2020, one year after the site was established in 2019 when she was Division 4 councillor.

Speaking on Thursday, Ms Blackburn did not repeat her language of 2020 but confirmed Bundaberg Now would be subject to review as part of a “back to basics” approach that was a key aspect of her election platform.

“I don’t believe that Bundaberg Now has been performing activities that are related to the core business of council,” she said.

“We’ve got to get back to basics.”

Ms Blackburn’s 2020 comments echoed the views of University of Melbourne media academic Dr Denis Muller, who described Bundaberg Now as “propaganda masquerading as news” in comments made to the ABC in August 2019.

Former communications minister Paul Fletcher expressed concerns about Bundaberg Now on the grounds it gave the misleading impression of being an independent news publication.

The website drew the attention of the federal government in 2021, when then-communications minister Paul Fletcher expressed concerns about Bundaberg Now crowding out independent news outlets from the media marketplace.

“It is troubling that this publication is presented to give the impression of being an independent news organisation when in fact it is fully funded by the Bundaberg Regional Council and its coverage of the mayor and the council verges on hagiographic,” Mr Fletcher said.

With the former council consistently declining to inform the public about the costs of Bundaberg Now, one of the drivers of its perception by the public as lacking transparency and accountability, the burden on ratepayers was a key issue in the 2024 election.

The Bundaberg Ag Food and Fibre Alliance, the largest donor to Ms Blackburn’s campaign, called for an end to the “massive and unwarranted spending on glory projects the community has not endorsed”, singling out Bundaberg Now for “gouging a huge hole in Bundaberg region council funds”.

Council consistently declined to inform the public about the costs of Bundaberg Now, with a figure of $5000 per year stated by former mayoral adviser Michael Gorey later revealed to be related to the software costs only.

Apart from her concerns with Bundaberg Now as ratepayer-funded propaganda, its elimination was cited by Ms Blackburn as the means through which some of her other key initiatives including the reintroduction of the 10 per cent early rates payment discount would be funded.

To this end, Ms Blackburn may find support in obtaining cost savings from shelving Bundaberg Now from some new councillors including Shorne Sanders, should he emerge victorious from a closely fought division race 8 with Steve Cooper, who said reducing rates was “a high concern to a large number of residents” in the context of the rising cost of living.

If successful in a closely fought battle with incumbent Steve Cooper for division 8, Shorne Sanders could be in favour of shelving Bundaberg Now in order to support rates cuts.

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With as many as five new faces sitting around the council table, it will be councillors’ willingness to see a mandate for change in the public’s rebuke of the former council that will decide the fate of Bundaberg Now, and the yet-unknown quantity of ratepayer funds that support it.