In yet another example of dishonesty, this Labor Government has been exposed instructing bureaucrats to hide the truth from the public.
A response to a Question on Notice on the Gillard Government’s 2012 grants freeze submitted by Senator Scott Ryan revealed that instead of just admitting grants programs had been suspended because of the Government’s parlous budget position, bureaucrats were told not to tell the truth about the grants freeze.
AusIndustry provided a telephone script on notice, which instructed staff to tell callers the freeze was in place to allow the Government to “collect information” and analyse “levels of existing program expenditure”.
However the same day Senator Ryan put the question on notice, the Leader of the Government in the Senate Senator Chris Evans revealed, in plain language, the true reason for the freeze. His answer made a mockery of the AusIndustry script.
Senator Evans told the Senate Economics Committee: “I think the way to think about it is that there is a pause/freeze in place, the government will make a decision about each program and there will be an announcement about whether the program is fully funded, partially funded or not funded.” (Hansard, Senate Economics Committee, 17/10/12)
In the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee, Finance Minister Senator Penny Wong added her own explanation, again in plain English: “The government has made a decision to pause a range of grants to allow us to examine that expenditure.” (Hansard, Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee, 16/10/12)
“Once again, the Government has let small businesses down, once again it has been caught out playing with the truth,” Senator Ryan, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Fair Competition said. “Instead of telling the truth – that funding was frozen to allow the government to decide whether grants programs will go ahead – the government misled small businesses about data collection.”
“Rather than being honest and admitting to applicants that the Government is reassessing grants in light of budgetary pressures, callers received an earful of spin.”
“This is just another example of a Government that cannot tell the truth. It lied about the carbon tax, it lied about a budget surplus and it diddled small businesses looking for a break. This is a Government that cannot be trusted.”