NO.027

2005-2006 BUDGET – MEDIA LOCK-UP ARRANGEMENTS

The Treasurer will deliver the 2005-2006 Budget at 7.30 pm AEST on Tuesday

10 May 2005. The usual lock-up arrangements will again be available for media

organisations in Canberra, based in the main Committee Room area in Parliament

House. The lock-up will begin at 1.30 pm AEST and conclude when the Treasurer

begins his Speech.

As usual, security considerations are paramount in the lock-up arrangements.

To obtain entry to the lockup, media representatives must sign and have witnessed

by a Treasury official the necessary ‘Form of Undertaking’. Attendees

may be required to produce proof of their bona fides as an employee of a media

organisation prior to signing the Undertaking and thereupon will gain entry

to the lock-up. A copy of the Undertaking format is attached for information.

In line with previous arrangements, attendees must undertake not to bring

official).

As occurred last year, the lockup area will be monitored for detection of

non-authorised wireless transmissions of information.

Any breach in the letter and spirit of the Undertaking and in the use of the

lock-up facility will be regarded extremely seriously. Your particular attention

is drawn to the fact that breaches of the terms of the Undertaking may be in

contravention of section 79(3) of the Crimes Act 1914, a copy of which is also

attached. Penalties include possible imprisonment up to two years.

Note also that an important requirement of the Form of Undertaking stipulates

that Budget information is not to be broadcast by any media outlets before the

Treasurer conveys it to Parliament.

No provision for entry can be made for non-media groups or individuals.

As in past years, arrangements may be made for secure landlines to group headquarters

of the approved major print organisations for SUB-EDITING PURPOSES ONLY. Entry

to these sub-lockups is restricted to sub-editorial staff only – JOURNALISTS

ARE NOT PERMITTED. These arrangements involve the establishment of a secure

area on the news organisations’ premises which is supervised by Commonwealth

staff for the duration of the Canberra lockup. Any communication between the

Canberra lock-up and the sub-lockups will require security encryption – absolutely

no transmission will take place without encryption.

As usual, participating organisations will bear their own costs of participation

and attendance.

The Budget Speech and other major documents (including the Budget Overview

and Economic Outlook) will be electronically available at the lockup. The electronic

version can be saved on disk in any available format.

Prior arrangements are to be made with Treasury as follows:

General

Due to the usual limited space available, organisations must restrict their

representation to the minimum number of essential employees only. It is intended

that organisation’s location will be essentially the same as in 2004.

Please be advised that all lock-ups will be conducted in a non-smoking environment.

Parliament House regulations also do not permit the bringing of alcohol into

the lock-up area. All attendees to the lock-up held in Parliament House must

vacate the lock-up area (Committee rooms) by 11.00 pm on the night.

You are reminded of the terms and conditions for entry to the Budget lock-ups.

We particularly remind prospective attendees that:

Storage facilities for such equipment will be available at the lock-up entrance.

There will be no contact outside the lock-up other than with the use of approved

secure communication links. As mentioned above, any breach of the undertaking

will be regarded most seriously.

Copies of the Budget and associated documents will be on saleinCanberra at

the CanPrintCommunication Pty Ltd shopfrontfrom 7.30 pm (AEST) on Tuesday

10 May 2005 and at Standards Australia shopfronts in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth

from 11 May 2005. Distribution details for Darwin, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart

will be provided on the central Budget website. Informationon how to purchase

Budget documents is available on thecentralBudget website at

www.budget.gov.auand,

consistent with previous years, the Budget documents will be available onlineat

the

same site from

7.30 pm AEST on Budgetnight.

Any general questions relating to the lockups should be directed to Ray Gavin

(02) 6263 3736 or Michael Price (02) 6263 2794 at the Treasury.

CANBERRA, 6 April 2005