In Australia, Queensland and the Scenic Rim Region millions of dollars of rates and taxes are diverted from funding services, to funding extensive and expensive public relations exercises that are designed not merely to inform us, but to persuade us that the existing governments and council are doing a wonderful job.
There is no discernable benefit to us as taxpayers and ratepayers from this form of de facto, publically funded political advertising, although there are some obvious beneficiaries from this expenditure.
According to a recent comparative survey SRRC rates and charges are the highest in south east Queensland.
Despite this, and the fact that many ratepayers are struggling financially in these uncertain economic times, the SRRC recently decided to add to its already considerable expenditure on public relations by hiring an expensive external consultant to massage the council’s image at a convenient time that just happens to be a few months before an election.
As consumers we know that it is not wise to judge the quality of a product by its fancy packaging, slick sales pitch, free gifts or glossy advertisements. Perhaps its a good idea to adopt the same common sense approach to evaluating the true quality of prettily packaged political “products” too.
Nadia O’Carroll
Candidate for Division 2