Australia's secret still leaks<\/p>\n
Johannes Simbolon, The Jakarta Post, Canberra<\/p>\n
In Australia, the government's budget is a top secret until it is
\ndelivered to parliament, as it is in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
In Australia, some content of the budget is usually leaked to
\nthe press prior to its official delivery to parliament. The same
\nalso goes for Indonesia.<\/p>\n
However, The Jakarta Post, recently given the chance to
\nwitness the delivery of the Australian budget in Canberra, found
\nmany differences between Australian and Indonesian budgets in
\nmany aspects. The Canberra visit was part of an AusAID-funded
\nbusiness journalism course organized by the Indonesia-Australia
\nSpecialized Training Project.<\/p>\n
One of the differences is the so-termed \"budget lockup\": In
\nAustralia, journalists are locked in a room at the parliament
\nbuilding for hours until after the session at which the Treasurer
\ndelivers the budget to parliament.<\/p>\n
Journalist start entering the lockup room in the afternoon,
\nhours before the budget session starts at the parliament. Each
\njournalist is given a copy of the budget but none is allowed to
\ncarry a cellular phone or anything else that might enable them to
\ncommunicate with the outside world. In the event they need to go
\nto the toilet, treasury officials will accompany them.<\/p>\n
In the room, which can accommodate up to 500 people,
\njournalists prepare reports on the budget, to be published the
\nmorning after, or to be broadcast soon after the parliamentary
\nsession on budget delivery finishes. The session, which is
\nbroadcast nationwide by state-owned Australian Broadcasting
\nCorporation (ABC), usually finishes at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
\"The budget lockup aims to prevent journalists from leaking
\nthe contents of the budget to people outside, who could use the
\ninformation to reap a profit on the stock market,\" John Lombard,
\nformer ABC senior journalist, said.<\/p>\n
About 45 percent of Australia's population of 19 million own
\nshares, one of the world's highest proportions.<\/p>\n
Since most of the process of making budget stories takes place
\nin the lockup room, each media sends a large number of staff,
\nincluding reporters and graphic designers, into the room.<\/p>\n
Sydney's Daily Telegraph, one of the largest newspapers in
\nAustralia, for instance, sent about 25 journalists into the
\nlockup room when Treasurer Peter Costello recently delivered his
\nbudget to parliament, according to Canberra bureau chief Malcolm
\nFarr.<\/p>\n
Farr acknowledged that some budget content had been leaked to
\nthe press several days before delivery day, but the main element
\nof Costello's budget proposals -- a tax cut -- remained a secret
\nto journalists until they received their copies of the budget.<\/p>\n
The Daily Telegraph, like other Australian newspapers, came
\nout the following day, with many pages dedicated solely to budget
\nstories, analyzing almost all details of the budget.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, the minister of finance usually delivers the
\nbudget to the legislature in the morning, while journalists get
\ncopies of the budget the evening before, to be embargoed until
\nafter the delivery process of the budget.<\/p>\n
The most interesting part of the Australian budget story is
\nwhat happens after it has been delivered to parliament.<\/p>\n
Soon after delivering the budget, Costello granted an
\ninterview to an ABC reporter, who grilled him on the content of
\nthe budget. That was then followed by an interview with Shadow
\nTreasurer from the opposition party Bob McMullan, who, as
\npredicted, was opposed to the budget.<\/p>\n
In his budget, Costello, who is touted by many as the next
\nPrime Minister of Australia should the ruling coalition win in
\nthe next general election, estimated the federal government's
\nrevenue at A$178.3 billion (about Rp 983 trillion) for the
\n2003\/2004 fiscal year, including tax revenue of A$166.5 billion,
\ncompared with Indonesia's budget revenue for the 2003 fiscal year
\nof Rp 336 trillion, including tax revenue of Rp 257.1 trillion.<\/p>\n
Costello's proposals included personal tax cuts of A$2.4
\nbillion, an increased spending on budget of A$2.1 billion over
\nthe five years from 2002 to 2003, and allowing universities to
\nincrease school fees by up to 30 percent. Still, the budget had a
\nsurplus of A$2.2 billion.<\/p>\n
Opposition leader Simon Crean of the Labor Party, strongly
\ncriticizing Costello's budget, proposed an alternative budget to
\nparliament two days later. Derisively labeling Costello's tax cut
\n\"the smallest tax cut from the highest-taxing government in our
\nhistory,\" Crean proposed higher spending on education and health
\ncare.<\/p>\n
For several days after budget delivery, Costello and McMullan
\ntoured all big towns in Australia to explain to the public their
\nrespective budget proposals and convince them that theirs was the
\nbest. They talked at business luncheons, which cost visitors as
\nmuch as hundreds of Australian dollars per seat.<\/p>\n
Polling agencies also stoked up budget fever by asking the
\npublic which budget proposal was the best. The poll by Herald-AC
\nNielsen found that the public mostly favored the opposition
\nparty's budget proposals.<\/p>\n
For first-time visitors like the Post, watching how
\nAustralians discuss their budget was quite an experience. It was
\nlike a big festivity, which lasted for days and involved people
\nfrom all walks of life. It also reflected how the people were
\nstrongly committed to democracy, transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n
Looking impressed, news producer of state TV station TVRI's
\nBali branch I Ketut Wasa commented: \"I will do the same in Bali.
\nAfter the governor has submitted his budget to the provincial
\nlegislature -- soon after its delivery -- I will ask him for an
\ninterview on our station to explain the budget.\"<\/p>",
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