Blog post

Federal Budget 2020: Notes from Canberra

Dubbed as the most significant Federal Budget in our lifetime, this year’s big spending budget is focused on Australia’s recovery from the first recession in nearly 30 years.

The Isentia team in Canberra was part of the Press Gallery Budget lock up and attended the Budget lock up press conference given by Treasurer The Hon. Josh Frydenberg MP and Minister for Finance, Senator the Hon. Mathias Cormann.

“Isentia was the first to deliver confirmed budget news to its clients. Being in the lock-up enabled the Isentia team to notify clients how the Federal Budget impacted them even before the second reading of the Budget in Parliament,” said Isentia’s Head of Government Business, Kylie Dunstan. “This is a key point of difference for Isentia. We worked closely with our clients in the weeks leading into the budget to understand the issues important to them so we were in the unique position to provide tailored updates to clients as soon as the Budget embargo was lifted. 

“Our team was also part of the post-budget interview line, capturing industry group and stakeholder commentary. “This proactive alerting enabled our clients to understand critical issues and impacts – even before they were reported in mainstream media. “The Federal Budget generates the most media coverage of any day of the year, so it’s critical to our clients that we provide them what they need as quickly as possible,” Ms Dunstan said.

The lead up to the budget announcement

In the week leading up to the budget announcement, more than 16,500 stories across Print, Broadcast, Social Media and Online addressed the Federal Budget. The large volume of coverage represents the magnitude of the story and the impact it has on the national news landscape.

On budget day,  more than 6,500 stories covered the announcement. Of those, 3,400 also mentioned COVID-19. The magnitude of this year’s announcement can also be measured by the increase in national print coverage across the key publications. 

On October 6 alone, the main Australian newspapers published 25% more articles than the average between September 9 to October 5, 2020. Not only there were more articles on a single day but those articles were also more relevant to our clients. On October 6, our platform recorded a 38.72% increase in article match rate to our clients requirement compared to the average match rates over the time period between September 9 and October 5.

At Isentia, we are on a mission to help clients make great decisions with our suite of media intelligence tools and local support. For more insights into the Federal Budget conversations, get in touch today.