I have adblock on my browser so I seldom see any ads at all. This one caught me by surprise as a result:
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/ads-to-stay-on-weather-bureau-website-20140120-314uc.html Commercial advertising will be a permanent feature of the Bureau of Meteorology website and the federal government has refused to rule out running ads on other publicly funded websites. In April the Gillard government introduced the first trial of advertising on a government website on the bureau site for one year. But, after Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey warned of steep spending cuts with the next budget, a government spokeswoman refused to rule out the spread of commercial advertising to websites such as Centrelink, the Australian Taxation Office and Australian Job Search. [snip] -------------- So now we pay tax plus we are 'sold' (for those who see the ads) to commercial outfits as well? Something's wrong in there. The article sites dependence for budget. Another aspect of 'self-funding' that has begun in the public service and various commissions. I'm aware of a policy for that in of all things: AUSTRAC. Maybe the thing that is bothering me is that the govt sets up regulatory offices then charges those being regulated to pay for them, so has zero incentive to determine the priority of a budget line to pay for it in the first place. Quite a racket, if you ask me. Jan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [email protected] Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. ~Margaret Atwood, writer _ __________________ _ _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
