The end of the blogs?

Appearing in yesterday's Chronicle were the following comments in relation to blogs reporting on the Toowoomba City Council's controversial recycled sewage project:

"A spokeswoman for Local Government Minister Desley Boyle said because Toowoomba’s poll would be run under the provisions of the Local Government Act, all election material would be subject to it. That included advertisements, pamphlets, handbills and information published on the internet, which legally would have to provide contact details authorising them."

“If these sites remained online within the election period and contained opinions designed to influence the outcome of the poll, they would be considered election materials and would need to include a contact name and address,” the spokeswoman said.

But are they correct?

See - the short answer.

Also see - the long answer.