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THE Victorian Government is the spin king of Australia, with more than 700 of the nation's 3000 media advisers working for Premier John Brumby and his team.
The Brumby Government and its agencies are employing hundreds of staff to manage their public perception at a cost to taxpayers of more than $70 million a year, a Sunday Herald Sun investigation has found.
Nationally, Australia's taxpayer-funded spin bill is at least a quarter of a billion dollars a year, employing an army of at least 3000 media advisers to sell government programs.
Victoria's public service is in a spin, with 782 staff employed as media, communications, marketing and public affairs advisers across key government departments and services such as police, ambulance and fire brigades.
Internal Government documents reveal that if the total Victoria Police corporate communications team is included, the total figure is 822.
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There are more publicly-paid spin doctors in Victoria than MICA paramedics, orthopedic surgeons and forensic police.
And the State Opposition argues the number of public sector communications staff is as high as 964.
The Government and its agencies intially put the number at only 72 when asked how many media advisers, directors, assistants, workers and support staff they employed.
The figures do not include sub-contractors, public relations teams and external consultants brought in for specialist projects or spin doctors employed by the state's public transport services.
Mr Brumby and his ministers have 23 media advisers at their disposal, plus another 46 employees in the Department of Premier and Cabinet charged with promoting the Government, including 12 staff whose sole purpose is media monitoring.
The Department of Industry Innovation and Regional Development has a "Sydney PR manager" and "destination communications manager" as well as a strategic communications manager, online communications manager, adviser, information officer and communication manager.
The Department of Health, including the much-maligned former Department of Human Services, has a media unit with five spin doctors, but a total communications staff of 111.
And the Department of Primary Industries employs Melbourne communications staff in roles "to be confirmed" and "yet to be defined" as well as a "media and issues analysis adviser", "corporate reputation" department and web writers.
Opposition scrutiny of government spokesman David Davis said the time and money invested in spin should be put to better use solving the state's health, public transport and public order problems.
"This is incredible, the size of John Brumby's propaganda unit is the largest anyone has ever heard of," he said.
"John Brumby is so arrogant he has built the biggest propaganda unit outside of North Korea.
"The Opposition have four media advisers, John Brumby has almost 1000."
There are at least 650 people employed as public affairs officers across the main federal public service departments and hundreds more are employed in dozens of smaller agencies, according to answers received directly from departments and responses to Senate committee inquiries during the last term of government.
A further 44 ministerial media advisers headline the Gillard Government's spin effort.
The NSW Government admitted to employing 156 spin doctors.
Queensland had 350 department media advisers and 51 ministerial advisers, WA had 265 in total, SA had 228 and Tasmania had 123 in 2008.
A handful of federal government departments were willing to reveal how much they spent on spin, but an Opposition estimate, based on figures released to the Senate over an 18-month period from 2008, put the cost at more than $50 million a year.
Overall, the bill across the states, territories and Federal Government totals at least $250 million a year.
The average salary for public relations and communications personnel in Melbourne is $75,623, but with sweeteners such as superannuation, payroll tax, long service leave, workcover and recreational leave, the average Government wage for the role is estimated at $90,000.
The Department of Justice last week advertised a "communications, marketing and media" role in the newly-formed Office of the Fire Services Commissioner with a salary range of $93,740 to $125,443.
Documents obtained by the Sunday Herald Sun through Freedom of Information show five casual media interns hired by the "Government and corporate group" between January 28, 2008 and June last year cost $203,165.
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