And in true Orwellian Doublespeak, Prime Minister Scott Morrison used the war footing to paint himself as the champion of peace. Michael Tanner reports. It’s been a while since the government actually announced a policy and that drought looks set to continue. Because even though there was blanket media coverage of the fact that the federal government is planning a big budget spend, the government once again delivered that announcement via “a cosy briefing to a tight crew of chosen Canberra-based journalists“. And the cosy crew dutifully did their bit, with near-identical articles posted almost simultaneously late on Wednesday night, each regurgitating Josh Frydenberg’s draft speech, with reports of what the Treasurer “will say” littered throughout their publications. The only difference this time from previous drops was that the circle has expanded beyond The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Age/SMH, The Conversation, ABC and The Guardian. Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids are now also getting looped in, with The Adelaide Advertiser, The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun and The Courier Mail all getting the drops, all running segments of the Treasurer’s upcoming speech,

Source: Tamed Estate: cosy media club getting Coalition’s ‘drops’ expands to include Rupert’s tabloids – Michael West