Government PR mostly propaganda

I fully support the claims of former Army PR Officer Andrew Bird ("Veteran charges Army over spin", Sydney Morning Herald, 12 Feb). Article

It's a sad fact of life that all Defence PR (in fact all government PR) these days exists to paint the government in a positive light. It's called propaganda.

When I first served in Army PR, in the mid-1980s, PR Officers first and foremost represented the Army and the local military commander. PR Officers could speak to the media. That is not the case now. Everything is cleared by Canberra. I honestly don't know why any self-respecting PR person would want to be in uniform these days.

We have the Howard Government to thank for the manipulative process which now permeates all levels of government PR. It's a dangerous path and does little to demonstrate the first rule of PR: be open and honest. It also does a great disservice to our people in uniform, who despise the manipulation when asked to "perform".

It's why I resigned after 23 years (four in the Regular Army). I could not stomach a government that lied about the casualities in Afghanistan.

Parliament back. And they're off ... really off

Parliament has only been back for two days and already we're witnessing the election in full swing.

The PR opportunities (aka photo ops) are abundant.

Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott has been filmed 1. on the roof of a house looking at solar panels (climate change) and 2. in a supermarket with Joe Hockey talking about food prices (economy and the battlers). Their conversation was pathetic.

And all the while, we have the ubiquitous PR minders nodding approvingly in the background. Get out of shot, people.

At this stage I'm ready to switch off. Then again, I'd still have to look at the stills in the Papers.

Picture: Ray Strange, The Australian.