How much are you paying to help politicians advertise themselves on Facebook? V/CLIP

The internet has changed the political game, and Department of Finance records show that politicians from all sides are using taxpayer dollars to get their message out online.

You may be used to politicians spending your hard-earned taxes on pamphlets in the letterbox and personalised fridge calendars, but the internet has changed the game.

Department of Finance records show that parliamentarians from all sides are using taxpayer dollars to get their message out online.

So what are you helping to pay for?

Labor senator’s $20k day

Labor senator Sam Dastyari billed taxpayers $20,000 in one day to make four Facebook videos, including two promoting his party, before the last federal election.

Each video was charged to the Department of Finance for $5,000 on June 28, 2016.

Two of the videos were made during the Opposition’s pre-election tour of Tasmania, and were released in the lead-up to the July 2 ballot.

They include video of the so-called “Bill bus” as well as showing federal and state Labor MPs on the hustings.

The other two were controversial videos that featured Senator Dastyari’s children, including a piece mocking multinational tax avoidance.

Source: Social media and sleek websites: How politicians are spending taxpayer dollars in the internet age – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)