The Abbott government has quietly introduced a hardline code of conduct for ministerial staff, banning political commentary on social media sites including Twitter and Facebook.
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The ban also extends to current Coalition staff writing books and newspaper articles and staff seeking "further guidance" on the new rules are referred directly to Tony Abbott's chief of staff, Peta Credlin.
The Statement of Standards for Ministerial Staff was updated late last year and is based on the code of conduct for staff introduced by the first Rudd government back in 2007.
The two codes of conduct are identical, except for the addition of a 22nd clause in the Coalition code, which states that staff must: "Other than in the course of their professional duties, not post personal online commentary or other material or publish books or articles expressing personal views which relate to either their minister's portfolio area or the general work of the Australian government."
"The Prime Minister's chief of staff should be consulted for further guidance."
Though staff have not been banned from using Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites, the move is designed to head off potentially embarrassing commentary for the government.
The move comes after the Prime Minister's office last year cracked down on media appearances by the Coalition frontbench, issuing an edict that all media requests for interviews be approved by the Prime Minister's staff.
Government insiders dismissed suggestions the move was a "command and control" measure and described it as an attempt to prevent Coalition staff developing high public profiles, as occurred during the Rudd and Gillard governments.
Former prime minister Julia Gillard's communications director John McTernan frequently engaged in public arguments on Twitter, attracting criticism from inside and outside government ranks.
And staffers to former prime minister Kevin Rudd, including chief of staff Alister Jordan, economics adviser Andrew Charlton and media chief Lachlan Harris all had high public profiles and were themselves subject to public criticism at times.
The tight controls from the prime minister's office have, however, also attracted attention to Ms Credlin, with Mr Abbott's chief of staff accused of being a "control freak".
