Australians will be amazed that taxpayers are actually spending $150 million dollars a year on a veritable battalion of government spin doctors – about 1600, according to The Australian (14/8).

But that’s not all. There are also more spin doctors in the parallel public service that governments now surround themselves with, the so-called ministerial advisors.

Among the Prime Minister’s, there is her chief spin doctor, John McTernan.

He was imported -no doubt at great expense from the UK. He had gained -shall we say - certain notoriety when he spun for the Blair government.

He became better known here when he phoned 2GB’s financial commentator, Ross Greenwood, who described the call as an ''absolute tirade'' laced with incessant use of the ''F bomb.''

And you the taxpayer are paying every cent of this.

But not content with this, and with a curious readiness of some in the media to report these spin doctored press releases as fact, the Prime Minister and her Communications Minister Senator Conroy are now threatening to gag those journalists who try as best they can to report the facts rather than the government spin.

We are going down a dangerous path indeed.