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Government ad spend rose to record high in July

boat asylum adGovernment spending hit a record high in July, data gathered from Australia’s media agencies reveals.

The huge spike – more than three times what was spent in the same month last year, and more than double any previous July – comes against the backdrop of claims that the Labor government has been using advertising as a political tool.

According to data gathered from agencies by Standard Media Index, government spending rose to $57m in July. This was compared to $16m the year before.

The government’s advertising around its changes in visa legislation – which opponents claim have been aimed at “vote people, not boat people” – have been heavily advertised in Australian newspapers, on TV and on radio. That one campaign has a budget of $30m against it. The government has also been heavily promoting its Plan for Australian Jobs.

The strong government spend turned  what would otherwise have been a reduction in the size of the advertising market into positive growth of 5.9 per cent for the month.

The TV networks have been the major beneficiaries of the big government spend, with $73m allocated since January.

According to SMI, advertiser spend by agencies in July rose by $35m to $639m.

The biggest percentage growth in July came for subscription TV, which was up by 20 per cent to $40m and cinema advertising up by 20.3 per cent to $7m. Outdoor also saw strong growth, up by 10.3 per cent to $55m.

Print media still struggled. Metro newspapers were down 21 per cent, and magazines were down by 28 per cent for the month

Meanwhile, for the calendar year to date, government spend is up by 57 per cent, while the market is up 0.5 per cent.

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