Des Houghton: Labor spin doctors keeping the truth under wraps
Far from fulfilling their duty to inform, government spin doctors are not only misleading the public but even their own ministers, writes Des Houghton.
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ANOTHER week, another two integrity crises for the beleaguered Queensland Labor Government.
Queensland Cabinet was again under scrutiny, with dumped treasurer Jackie Trad referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission for a third time as Education Minister Grace Grace battled accusations she falsified or embellished her education record.
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Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington landed some punches when she reminded the House the CCC “found instances of unethical behaviour, corruption risks, deleted emails, arguably dishonest acts” that “eroded integrity” in the education department.
The CCC investigation found improper conduct by bureaucrats.
The report went further, saying Queenslanders were misled by phony press releases.
This may have been the most critical finding of all.
To my mind, the report by chairman Alan MacSporran underplayed the damage caused by the Government’s propaganda arm.
A toxic culture of deceit and cover-up was a hallmark of this Government, as former ministerial press secretary Neil Doorley said in evidence recently in the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission when he successfully sued the state for wrongful dismissal.
The rise and rise of government spin doctors has undermined public trust and integrity.
The number of spin doctors in the Queensland Government exceeds the total number of journalists at The Courier-Mail and the ABC.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk seemed perplexed in Parliament when she was asked by Opposition sport spokesman John-Paul Langbroek this week if she was going to correct the press releases the CCC found to be “false” and “designed to mislead” Queenslanders. Fair question.
Palaszczuk avoided answering it. She danced around it, saying the CCC report had now become the official record of the Parliament.
She added: “I am happy to get further clarification from the Clerk (of Parliament) on that.” She then changed tack again, saying government officials under investigation by the Public Service Commissioner deserved natural justice.
So I am guessing the fake releases will go uncorrected.
The CCC report mentioned “government media releases” 67 times. MacSporran used the word “misleading” 25 times in describing the press releases and other internal correspondence.
This may be a pointer to the integrity, or lack of it, displayed by government ministers, senior bureaucrats and their spin doctors.
MacSporran found some media releases were designed not just to mislead journalists, but ministers themselves.
“The publication of false information in a media statement, and the provision of false or misleading information to the Premier and Minister Grace was also arguably dishonest,” he noted.
Under a heading “CORRUPT CONDUCT” MacSporran reported: “The manufacturing of the new enrolment figure was arguably dishonest, as was the deletion of the email.
“Similarly, the publication of false information in a media statement, and the provision of false or misleading information to the Premier, Minister Grace was also arguably dishonest.
“The next part of the media statement is false and was designed to mislead.”
On another page, he said: “This media statement was infected by the misleading behaviour of those who reported to (name redacted).”
On another occasion, he said: “The draft report is inaccurate insofar as it suggests that (name redacted) misled the public through the contents of that media statement.”
If MacSporran wants any more evidence of wrongdoing by spin doctors, he need only peruse the transcripts in the Doorley case.
Government media advisers were there to “clean up” and hide mistakes by ministers and to “contain any fallout” they caused.
Their professional duty to help journalists better inform the public was a low priority.
Back in parliament shadow treasurer Tim Mander pointed to the “long list of Labor integrity scandals”.
“Only this week we have seen the Minister for Education – at best, one could say – misrepresent her qualifications,” he said.
“As education minister, for her to suggest that she has a qualification at master’s level, because she attended a 10 to 12-week course with no exam and all she received was a certificate of completion, is an absolute outrage.”
Mander also referred to Trad’s property deals, and reminded the House that Palaszczuk was “the only premier in the history of the Australian Parliaments to be found in contempt of the Parliament”.
Originally published as Des Houghton: Labor spin doctors keeping the truth under wraps