With Budget 2013 just around the corner, our very own seasoned veteran of financial journalism, Bruce Madden, reflects on some of the arguably more arcane rituals that accompany the release of the Budget papers to the media.
A strange thing happened last week: I met a journalist who was looking forward to next week’s Federal Budget lockup.
Yes, the journo was under the age of 30 - full of the vim and vigour of chasing the leftover details of a Budget that has already had more than its fair share of leaks, numbers kite-flying and political footballing.
For the uninitiated, the ‘lockup’ is an ancient ritual where the nation’s Parliamentarians and treasury officials take vengeance on the fourth estate by locking them away in a room for hours with instant coffee and a pile of paper. This event, shrouded in mystery and ‘top secret Government business’, occurs each second Tuesday in May.
Said scribes arrive to be frisked down for mobile phones and other communication devices, lest the risk that a genuine ‘leak’ of sensitive fiscal information might bring the machine of industry grinding to a sudden halt.
In exchange for their electronic tablets, mobile phones and courier pigeons, journos are handed a thick wad of Budget papers and explanatory memorandum.
They are ushered to a wood-panelled room to pore over the papers, prepare stories for the following day’s paper or evening news bulletins, and generally compare notes with old mates about the year past.
Bets are laid on how often the expression ‘black hole’ is used by Opposition pollies, while the more senior members of the press gallery might spend a few hours reminiscing about the lock-ups of days gone, and the legendary after parties.
These were the days when Governments fixed black holes in a simple fashion – by boosting taxes on cigarettes and grog. And a time when the most memorable Budget newspaper headlines screamed their simple messages to a waiting nation: ‘Beer, Cigs Up!’.
The Australian’s Judith Sloan put perfectly (and hilariously) into words this week what all economic and financial journalists have bemoaned for years – the federal Budget lockup is pretty much a difficult and farcical affair, designed largely as a point of bureaucratic self-justification by Government holding on to the trappings of a bygone era.
With leak after leak on Budget details about to become even more prevalent in the days leading up to next Tuesday, there remains the question of just what purpose the lockup has in these modern times.
At least for the less cynical old scribes like me, there remains a virtue in tallying up the numbers, asking the hard questions of the Treasurer and his minders and, ultimately, keeping the bastards honest!
BlueChip wishes well all media attending the federal Budget in Canberra next week. We look forward to reading and hearing the fruits of your labour! We will of course keep our ear to the ground on significant matters for financial services, including the controversial area of legislative change to superannuation. Watch this space.
