Janet CollinsTwittering Politicians
September 10th 2009 05:05
Former Federal Minister and current Opposition Treasury spokesman, Joe Hockey, has been under attack for tweeting during Question Time in Parliament instead of focusing his attention on the proceedings of the House, a criticism Hockey strongly denies.
On radio this morning, Hockey defended his multi-talking abilities saying that men “could walk and chew gum at the same time” and that tweets were a way of communicating the Opposition’s side of the argument.
Anything to do with communication is open to this side of the argument but the issue raises a very good question? Should our politicians really be permitted to send tweets during important sessions in Parliament any more than any of us being able to do the same on our work time?
While you could argue, as a caller to ABC radio did this morning, that our politicians should be at the forefront of all technology, the “tweet” that was at the centre of the argument was this one:
“listening to swan on the G20 and i am wondering how many finance ministers he met are left wing”
For those outside of Australia, Wayne Swan is our Federal Treasurer. This pretty lame comment for his 2,500 followers to read was hardly anything that was of vital importance or even informative. Perhaps he thought the message witty or clever but that doesn’t explain why it should be transmitted during a Question Time session.
There are rules in Parliament House but unfortunately most of them have been made long before SMS, internet or twittering on mobile phones had even been thought of. Mobile phones can be taken into Parliament but calls cannot be made on them in there.
Some could even argue that being in Opposition gives Hockey and his team a disadvantage in communicating because they don’t have the staff to do these things for them as the Government do. He should know – he was on the other side for long enough.
It is not only Australia that has the problem. In the Netherlands back in June, Dutch politicians were told off for posting messages on Twitter during Parliamentary debates. President of the Dutch house of representatives, Gerdi Verbeet, told MPs they should be concentrating on debates rather then writing messages online.
When it all boils down to it, Twitter is a play thing. It may be used by publicists the world over but most of us would be unable to post messages in work time and politicians should be no different.
After all, Parliament House is a place where serious business is supposed to take place. It’s a good thing for everyone following our politicians on the site that Twitter does limit their messages to 140 characters each time.
Sourced: www.abc.net.au; www.reuters.com
Image credit: www.abc.net.au
| 33 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
