Website waste

The Federal Government is pouring millions into building and maintaining websites, and the critics are asking why.

Kevin Rudd has presented himself as the dot com Prime Minister - a wizard of the web.

When the Prime Minister launches a Government initiative, the sales pitch or the solution includes a website.

First there was Fuel watch, then Grocery Choice, now there’s CarbonWatch and even a site dedicated to Child care and its costs.

The problem is, they're not cheap to construct or maintain.

Just ask Senator Michael Ronaldson. He believes the cost of maintaining the sites is too high.

"We have a fifty-eight thousand million dollar budget deficit this year - it will get up to three hundred billion dollars and in the space of this interview we've rattled off close to one hundred million dollars in website costs," Senator Ronaldson said.

The Senator maintains the sites are all about spin.

"The priorities are all wrong. Where are the priorities? We should have hospitals, we should have roads, we should have community infrastructure and this infrastructure is purely about sending a message for the Government and I think, quite frankly, in the current economic climate it is quite obscene."

Fuel watch, a site to help motorists find cheap fuel cost $21 million dollars.

A similar site aimed at supermarkets, Grocery Choice, cost $13 millions dollars.

In a bid to help reduce carbon emissions, there are two sites - one on climate change at a cost of $200,000 a year and a separate energy efficiency site which is part of a $25 million dollar budget.

Even the government stimulus handout has its own website.

Internet marketing expert, Phillip Baddoch, knows the Internet can be a powerful communications tool. He's not certain the Government is getting value for money.

"$12 to 25 million is a lot of money to spend on a website. The website would need to be doing something very serious in order to justify that sort of cost," Baddoch said.

Despite the Federal Government throwing plenty of money at these sites, they've been less than successful.

Fuelwatch didn't get past the Senate and control of Grocery Watch was handed to Choice, a consumer watchdog.

"The bottom line is everyone knows that food is more expensive in expensive suburbs than it is in cheaper suburbs, you don't need to have a $13 million dollar failed website to tell you. Fuelwatch is a complete and utter debacle as everyone knows. We're not talking about 10 or 15 or 20 dollars, we're talking 20 plus million dollars on a website that was again a complete and utter failure," Baddoch adds.

According to Phillip, Kevin Rudd's obsession with the Internet is more about appearing to be in touch with the younger generation.

"I think its a very good idea for him as a politician, he's trying to make sure that his message resonates with different parts of the community and if he's able to communicate with those young people in that sort of fashion, then I'm sure that that's going to help, help him to get his message across," he said.

Kevin Rudd also uses social networking sites like Facebook and myspace and you can follow his daily routine via Twitter - a short messaging forum where the Prime Minister signs off each message 'KRudd'. All of them are operated by taxpayer funded staff.