If you've been reading about the disappearing #Milkshake videos, you'd be forgiven for thinking the videos themselves somehow cost $3.8 million & were produced for the current issues around rape/consent.

Not the case.

However, some things have been overlooked

(with @jommy_tee)

In response to Amber Schultz from Crikey News, the Dept of Education, Skills & Employment this week refused to confirm the videos and/or The Good Society campaign were produced by Liquid Interactive as part of a $3.8 million tender.

So is that the actual agreement?

For a start, it's not too difficult to confirm that Liquid Interactive (a trading name of iLiquid P/L) produced The Good Society campaign for the federal govt, because it says as much on Liquid Interactive's own website.

But was that the cost of the videos?

We don't know the cost of the videos but the videos most certainly did not cost $3.8 million - or anything near it.

This is a real misreading of the facts.

It also ignores the commercial realities of producing something as comprehensive as The Good Society website & materials.

What we can surmise though is -

the contract the federal government refuses to confirm is the cost & contract for The Good Society campaign is almost certainly the cost & contract for it.

Why?

Because no other contract bw DESE & Liquid Interactive in that time frame exists.

So we know Liquid Interactive produced The Good Society for the federal government, but did Liquid Interactive actually create & produce the now notorious #MilkshakeVideos?

Anybody who can confirm this is being very coy.

What does seems odd . . . given iLiquid Pty Ltd has provided more than $118 million of contracts for the federal govt since 2011 - is that the company would suddenly subcontract out to somebody else, the very core work that they Liquid Interactive produce.

And one more thing.

You'll notice on the contract (we can surmise is the The Good Society project) that said contract was completed in June 28, 2019.

That means all the requirements to the contract were met and provided for and it was paid and closed off.

So that project was completed in mid 2019.

And if you went into the Wayback Machine and checked the website for Liquid Interactive back in March 2020 - 13 months ago - you would see that Liquid Interactive had The Good Society campaign up on their website even back then.

And look closer.

Because back in March 2020, the notorious #Milkshakevideos had been completed.

Because there's a storyboard shot from the since removed Taco video.

The Good Society campaign was launched and the website went live on April 14, 2021 - about one week ago.

And yet the Morrison government have been sitting on these videos for over one year.

And sitting on the project itself for close to two years.

While the Dept of Education, Skills & Employment may be refusing to provide information on the videos (that lasted a whole 72 hours) we know that they had at least 13 months and probably close to two years to assess the videos and - the entire Good Society project.

Which is where the real questions should be.

The $3.8M for the Good Society project seems a reasonable cost given its contents & scope.

But why was the project shelved for two years?

What was the brief for these actual videos?

Where was the Resource Review Group for these?

And why did nobody in all that time (and it was a very long time to view videos that were only 7 minutes each) why did nobody actually watch the videos sitting there and think - wow, these aren't up to scratch?

Why does the Morrison govt never seem to get their rollouts right?
.