Keeping the bastards honest

Communications Minister Helen Coonan gave a very interesting Andrew Olle Lecture in Sydney on Friday.

She spoke at length about the internet and its impact on politics and politicians, especially YouTube.

Coonan said that the margin of error for politicians was growing ever slimmer, with YouTube being the easiest place to find footage of pollies doing dumb stuff.

As we all know YouTube was practically an alternative media channel during the recent US elections.

In true political style Coonan described YouTube as, “The dumping ground for negative political adverts deemed too tasteless for TV – A convenient bypass of regulated platforms.”

I can’t help thinking that the rise of YouTube and comments like Coonan’s would have had the late Don Chipp smiling.

He was after all the politician who founded a party whose manifesto was to “Keep the bastards honest.’

And what better way to keep them honest than by giving every single person in the country the chance to post videos of them doing what they shouldn’t be doing.