The Howard Government has spent $3 million over the weekend funding full page political advertisements across the nation – one of which in the Canberra Times, claimed the Howard Government is supporting the Australian Capital Territory.
The political advertisements were a waste of taxpayer dollars and form part of a $750 million taxpayer funded political campaign – apparently needed to inform people about services in the ACT funded by the Howard Government.
These ads were also misleading: out of the 6 photos which appeared at least half of them were not taken in Canberra and were exactly the same as the ads which appeared in NSW papers.
It’s obvious John Howard does not have a clue about Canberra: we don’t actually have a train network in Canberra – and the trains which do come to Canberra for interstate travel – are in fact funded by the NSW Labor Government.
Another example of the misleading nature of the advertisements was the funding for ACT Schools.
The ads cited that the Howard Government was providing more funds for schools and that it was providing $152 million for Education. What the advertisement didn’t say was that ACT public schools only receive $34 million of this, compared to the $90 million given to the already over-resourced private schools. The other $30 million included in this figure is not even spent on our schools – and is actually a total figure for training and new apprenticeships as well.
This means that the Howard Government spends around $800 per public high school student, compared with funding for a Canberra Grammar student at around $1700 – demonstrating the Howard Government’s bias for private schools and its neglect of the public school system.
Spending $3 million of taxpayer money to fund what is clearly a misconceived and blatantly wrong depiction of federal funding to the ACT in an attempt to win votes is nothing short of a disgrace.
I urge Canberrans to remember every time they see a Howard Government ad that John Howard doesn’t live here, treats Canberra with contempt and that Gary Humphries is merely his local mouthpiece. Obviously they think Canberrans are stupid enough to be conned by these insulting ads.
Contact: Adina Cirson – 0418 488 295 or 02 6277 3334
