Liberal spin doctors give journalists their top 5 questions for Kevin Rudd

Updated

Liberal spin doctors have provided journalists covering Kevin Rudd's campaign with a list of questions they would like asked of the Prime Minister.

An email containing five questions advises journalists to ask about his home insulation scheme stimulus, Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's drink with suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson, and whether or not the Australian Workers' Union is behind the plot to parachute former Queensland premier Peter Beattie into the federal seat of Forde.

The questions wrongly name the grieving parents of Matthew Fuller - who died installing insulation under the Rudd Government's stimulus program - as the Fosters.

The email was sent from an anonymous staffer via the Liberal party's campaign headquarters address to selected journalists travelling with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's campaign.

It is common for Liberal staffers to phone journalists travelling with their political rivals to obtain details about the leader's movements of the day and draw journalists' attention to stories they think are newsworthy.

The tactic was employed by government staffers in 2010, involving journalists travelling with the Opposition Leader.

At the time, The Australian's Matthew Franklin, who is now Mr Rudd's strategic communications advisor, condemned the tactic as "Kevin Rudd-style control-freaky".

But it is rare for either side to put in writing suggested questions and send them anonymously.

Topics: rudd-kevin, media, federal-government, federal-election, liberals, alp, australia

First posted