Only last week, The Federal Government announced a $6m – five per cent – reduction in its print spending, under budget cuts announced by Penny Wong, minister for finance and deregulation.
Australian Printer spoke to Hagop Tchamkertenian, national manager for policy and government affairs, Printing Industries, he says, “Naturally we are disappointed to see cutbacks to the printing budget of the NSW Government. We are concerned that were no consultations with us in our role and capacity as the peak body of the industry, just as was the case when the Federal Government announced recently that it was cutting its printing budget by $6m.”
The decision by the NSW Government to publish annual reports online raises a number of issues and concerns, which were outlined to Australian Printer by Tchamkertenian.
He says, “Are we presuming that everyone has access to the internet? Are we assuming that everyone has the means and ability to print the government annual reports that will now be posted online? The government may be saving cost by publishing on-line, but in so doing it is simply shifting costs to the community.
“As more and more people print the government’s annual reports within a household or office environment, they would be doing so in a much less environmental friendly way. The commercial printing environment has a significantly lower environmental footprint than household/office type printing related activities.
“Print and paper continue to be the sustainable way to communicate even in a multi-media context. The question of document integrity also arises. A printed copy has certain integrity and trust factor that is associated with it; on-line documents can be downloaded and amended which raises questions about document/product integrity.”
Tchamkertenian believes The NSW Government should be supporting local manufacturing based activities. He says the printing industry is already being challenged by electronic media and this decision by the NSW Government will increase the pressure being felt by the industry.
He says, eHe says“The print medium remains one of the most effective mediums for information and knowledge transfer. The messages conveyed by the print medium tend to be more effective. Is this now likely to be compromised by the NSW Government’s decision to publish annual reports exclusively on-line?”
Tchamkertenian says “The best communication strategy employs elements of all available media – print, on-line, outdoor, TV and radio, social media. This is why we feel it is a short sighted policy to be excluding print from the communications mix. Print is a key component of a multi-channel communication world.”
“Print remains the preferred communication medium of many Australians including the elderly and socially disadvantaged. Promoting one media medium at the expense of another is not sound policy in our view.”
Tchamkertenian says Printing Industries are seeking a meeting with the NSW Premier to discuss the issue.
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