Another way we are being governed especially at State and Federal level is by ‘spin’.
Spin is the work of whole sections of our Government Departments. These are highly paid professionals who write media releases.
It is our understanding that government employees are simply not allowed to make public statements without first clearing them word for word through the Media Sections.
The worst example I came across was when a lowly weed expert was going to be the guest speaker at a gardening group. He was cancelled at the last minute because the text of his proposed talk hadn’t received official Media clearance. We are talking a talk on weeds by a weed expert.
The processes to get media clearance can be so time consuming and bureaucratic that they sap the will and delay processes endlessly fobbing off perfectly simple reasonable straight-forward questions.
Our governments are using spin and media manipulation on a scale unseen in Australia until very recently.
Silence and keeping information as completely obscured as possible is becoming the norm. Only providing bland weasel-worded PR releases but often preferring to release nothing at all if the matter is in any way controversial.
Within Government departments staff who previously were employed to serve the public are now channelled to serve the Minister writing spin. There are special courses in Government for public servants to be sent on to learn to write in this way.
This is government by airbrush and omission and deception. Not limited to any party.