RESPONSE BY GOVERNMENT HOUSE TO AN ARTICLE IN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

25 June 2008

Letters Editor
Daily Telegraph


I take issue with a number of false claims in the article by Steve Lewis and Ian McPhedran (Queen’s man a relic of the past - 25 June).

The dinner hosted by the Governor-General for the federal ministry to thank Ministers for their support, which I attended, was anything but a “stuffy affair”. Rather than an “awkward silence” the evening was characterised by a warm and friendly atmosphere and a lively buzz of conversation.

The claim that the Governor-General prefers to do “soft” interviews would come as a surprise to other members of the press gallery who have interviewed the Governor-General in recent weeks and a number of radio presenters who have a reputation for being anything but “soft” – one Walkley Award winner amongst them.

We did not say that we “prefer to use the Internet” rather we try and communicate direct to the community via radio and our Internet site that is now averaging around 700,000 hits per month.

And in the five years I have been at Government House I can’t recall the Governor-General attending a single fete.

Please get the facts right, just once.



Malcolm Hazell
Official Secretary to the Governor-General