Greg Hunt rejects Mark Butler’s claims that ‘misleading’ newspaper ad suggests the department endorses the Coalition
The Liberal party ad in a Tasmanian newspaper was titled ‘Get the facts on Medicare’ and contained links to the federal Department of Health website.The Liberal party ad in a Tasmanian newspaper was titled ‘Get the facts on Medicare’ and contained links to the federal Department of Health website.ad on Medicare funding has been referred to the electoral commission, after Labor claimed the government had tried to trick people into thinking the health department had endorsed the Coalition.
Butler on Monday wrote to the secretary of the health department, Prof Brendan Murphy, with concerns that the department’s website has been used as part of “the Liberal party’s dishonest political attacks on the Labor party”. In the letter, Butler said that the ad “uses a similar – or possibly the same – shade of blue that is often used by the Department of Health”.
The website in question says it was last updated on 11 April – the day after the prime minister, Scott Morrison, called the election. Butler also raised concerns that the timing of that update may have breached caretaker conventions, which come into force after an election is called, and state that government agencies should take extra care around their websites “to ensure that they cannot be interpreted as promoting Government policy”.
Guardian Australia has also seen a letter Hunt wrote to Butler on Tuesday in response to his questions, criticising the Labor frontbencher for his “assertions”. The health department, in a response to Guardian Australia questions, said it last updated the website on 9 April “to reflect changes as a result of the 2022-23 budget”. The only change made on 11 April was to correct “an incorrect date for the data source”, a department spokesperson said.
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