The Progressive Labour Party central committee has yet to discuss whether it should pay Government for the Premier's February broadcast after the Broadcasting Commission ruled that it was a political broadcast.

There does not seem to be much to discuss. Since the Commission ruled that the speech was a political broadcast, there is no way that the taxpayer should have to foot the bill.

The party has to pay, whatever the cost of the production was, and that should be the end of it.

In the meantime, Government and the Opposition need to decide how they wish to treat these broadcasts in the future.

It would seem, outside of elections, that the fairest way to deal with them is in the same way that they are treated in the United States. In other words, after the Government speaks, the Opposition should have the right of reply.

Payment for production costs could be split 50/50 between the parties and the Government and a cap could be set on how much public money can be spent on broadcasts each year.

In this way, neither party would be able to abuse the privilege without having to pay for it, while the cap would prevent unnecessary abuse of the system.

The television broadcasts should be about informing the public about the issues of the day. By giving both parties the right to speak, this can be accomplished.