New press secretary appointed

Press, 13 April 1988, Page 8

New press secretary appointed

By

BRENDON BURNS

political reporter A Wellington ■ political journalist has been appointed by: the! Government as a press secretary, based in Auckland. Mr Russell Hill, at present political editor of the "New Zealand; Herald” bureau at Parliament, will take up the i post next month. ; I ! j The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, said Auckland was a very significant part of the political scene. “The appointment in Auckland is necessary because it is the biggest news media market,” he said. ’ | i Mr Lange rejected a suggestion jthatl the new post, which Establishes the H ! ,

first press secretary based outside the Beehive, was required because the Government was not getting its message across. I It was more a case of having someone observing what was happening in Auckland, he said. I He declined to; comment when asked where the line was to be drawn on how many taxpayerfunded press secretaries the Government , would employ. "I am not going, into that,” he said. ( Mr Hill will report to the Prime Minister’s chief press secretary, Mr Mervyn Cull. ; , . The new post involves Mr Hill’s acting for all Ministers, including Mr

Lange. Mr Lange now has access to the services of five persons for news media advice. Apart from Mr Hill and Mr Cull, a former Defence Department public relations officer, Mr Mike Wicksteed, is a fulltime press secretary to Mr Lange. In February, Mr Lange announced the appointment of two other press secretaries to his! office, i Miss Vivienne Smith, a I former television re- ; porter, co-ordinates education matters for Mr i Lange in his role as Minisi ter of Education, and;for Mr Goff, as Associate Minister. 1 Ms Anna Gibbons was ; appointed as press secre-

tary with special responsilities for social policy. A spokesman for Mr Lange said yesterday that Ms Gibbons’ role had now widened to involve coordination of releases to the public and news media on social policy for all Ministers. A combined salary bill of about $250,000 is estimated for these staff. All except Mr Wicksteed are on a private contract. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, said the latest appointment was to provide propaganda at the taxpayers’ expense. “This latest attempt to influence the presentation of news in Auckland is further evidence of the

growing desperation inside Government ranks,” he said. Mr Bolger said taxpayers must protest at the gross waste of their money. The Opposition spokesman on constitutional issues, Mr Paul East (Rotorua), said very attractive contracts had made a logical career path for some Parliament reporters to join the Government. Balanced political reporting was a constitutional safeguard, said Mr East. “This is . becoming increasingly difficult as the relationship between the Beehive and the press gallery develops,” he said.