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May 9th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he’s not surprised the federal government selectively leaked budget information to some media outlets.
Commercial television networks and the ABC broadcast details of key parts of the federal budget from 5pm on Tuesday, two and a half hours ahead of other media organisations.
The other organisations were inside a six-hour government lock-up after all their journalists and staff had signed a legal document agreeing not to publish any budget information before 7.30pm.
Mr Abbott, who was also in the lock-up, said he was not aware of the early disclosures but had concerns.
“This is a government which is always attempting to manipulate the media,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.
“This is a government that is always trying to generate spin.”
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance federal secretary Chris Warren told AAP the decision by the Labor government to give sensitive budget information to selected journalists outside the lock-up was unfair.
“The whole point of the lock-up on budget day is to ensure that reporting on the federal budget is conducted on a level playing field,” Mr Warren said.
“Drip-feeding market-sensitive information to the media may work to the government’s advantage but the alliance strongly opposes preferential treatment of the media on what is one of the biggest news stories of the year.
“It is simply not fair to allow some journalists to break an embargo and punish others for doing the same thing.”
Treasurers have for decades selectively leaked small elements of federal budgets to television networks for broadcast on budget night.
But the amount of detail leaked this year – and its widespread broadcast on radio and television and publication online – surprised many in the lock-up.
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