from politicoz …..

The government's new media strategy – explain as little as possible – is now causing considerable disquiet among journalists.

Press gallery doyen Laurie Oakes said that the Abbott government is "thumbing its nose at voters" and called this attitude disgusting.

On a range of issues – foreign aid, asylum seekers, government finances, public service cuts, 'direct action' plans, trade agreements – almost no information is getting out into the public arena.

Abbott and a very few colleagues are still doing occasional soft interviews with sympathetic (mostly News Limited) journalists, but this is no substitute for the accountability promised by the Coalition before the election.

The government believes people happy to have politics off the front page, and therefore doesn't need to explain itself. But there are signs that it is misreading public sentiment.

One example: as the expenses scandal rolls into its fifth week, some Coalition MPs have clearly decided that they no longer need to feign remorse on travel claims.

Barnaby Joyce won't pay back $5000 he clocked up attending rugby games as a private guest of Westpac and the ARL.

"The only reason you're an official guest is because you're a politician," he said, as if that is "official business".

Should the Australian public pay when corporations want to shmooze politicians? (Can ACOSS afford to entertain MPs?) There is an inherent unfairness here that is too obvious to ignore. People notice.