In this op-ed, HAVAS Red group account director Charmaine Fong argues that best reactive PR is never truly reactive but instead is the result of preparation, trust and strategy built long before the news actually breaks.
Every PR practitioner knows the rush of a major news moment. The story breaks, journalists need comment quickly, spokespeople need to be available, and everyone wants a clear point of view before the news cycle moves on.
But the biggest lesson from leading financial services client Findex’s 2026 Federal Budget newsjack was this: reactive PR is rarely reactive at all. The best fast-turn opportunities are built long before the news breaks.
For Findex, budget night was a clear opportunity. The measures touched almost every part of its advisory remit: tax, wealth, SMEs, business structures, trusts, capital gains, negative gearing and broader financial planning. It was the kind of national moment where a multidisciplinary advisory business could add genuine value, provided we moved quickly, carefully and with the right level of sensitivity.
That last point mattered. Budgets are not just policy events, they land in people’s lives. This budget was highly political and came at a time when Australians are already under pressure from cost of living, housing and business conditions. The opportunity was not to chase headlines for visibility alone, but to help Findex enter the conversation with commentary that was useful, measured and practical, rather than politically loaded or self-serving.
The work started well before budget night. Two weeks out, we had a game plan in place. We mapped the likely issues, identified the strongest spokespeople, prepared media lists, built briefing materials and created templated forms for Findex experts to capture their views quickly once the detail landed.
Those templates were not just about getting a quick quote. They were designed to draw out the main takeaways, what the budget meant for key audience segments, and how the impact differed across demographics, wealth stages and business verticals. That mattered because Findex works across a broad client base, from individuals and families to SMEs, tax and business advisory. A single “budget reaction” would never have been enough.
Instead, we divided the budget into audience-specific lanes: financial planning for the wealth segments in Tier 1s, practical everyday Aussie impact for wider consumer pubs, business implications for SME outlets, and technical advisory angles for financial services trades. That meant we were not pitching one generic reaction. We were giving each journalist a version of the story that matched their audience.
Within 48 hours, we had secured commentary opportunities across national business, consumer and trade media, including multiple opportunities with AFR and Yahoo, as well as PedestrianTV and multiple trades. The coverage was the visible output, but the real story was the operating model behind it.
What made the work move was not luck. It came down to three foundations: prepare the point of view, prepare the people and prepare the process.
Preparing the point of view meant understanding where Findex had a credible right to speak. The Budget was complex, and the details were still moving. We had to avoid overstating anything before the legislation was clear, while still helping media understand what the measures could mean in practice. That required discipline: knowing what could be said confidently, what needed caveats, and what should wait until the detail was confirmed.
Preparing the people mattered just as much. Findex had already invested in media training for several spokespeople, which meant experts were comfortable translating technical policy into everyday language. They understood the importance of being clear without being simplistic, and measured without becoming bland. For a Budget story, where tax and policy complexity can easily overwhelm a mainstream audience, that preparation was critical.
Every successful newsjack also needs someone inside the client organisation who understands the value of earned media and can mobilise experts quickly. For Findex, head of advice teams Jonathan Scholes played that role. His buy-in as a senior leader helped create internal momentum and encouraged other experts to put their hand up. That kind of internal champion is often underestimated, but it can be the difference between a good opportunity and one that lands.
What also matters is agile and highly responsive clients, and Findex brings that to the table in spades. As agency partners, we can come up with compelling story angles for the targeted media, but if the decision-making process and content coming back from the client is slow, it can all come undone. Thankfully, the Findex team is well versed at working at pace and here, quick content decisions made for a critical difference at budget time.
Preparing the process was our job. Behind the scenes, that meant monitoring the budget, shaping angles, drafting commentary, coordinating spokespeople, managing approvals and tailoring pitches by vertical. It also meant creating enough structure, so speed did not become chaos.
One of the hardest parts of budget commentary is balancing quick turnaround with accuracy. The instinct in communications is often to polish until every sentence feels perfect. But fast-turn media does not always allow that luxury. The discipline is knowing what needs to be exact and what simply needs to be clear, credible and useful.
This is where the client relationship matters. Findex is a long-standing client, and over time we have built a relationship of considerable trust. We know how they want to be represented. We understand the tone, the boundaries, the subject matter strengths and the opportunities worth putting forward. Equally, Findex trusts that if we bring an opportunity to them, it is because it is relevant and worth pursuing.
That kind of trust removes friction. It does not remove rigour, but it does mean every step does not become a debate. In a fast-moving news moment, that is the difference between being part of the conversation and missing it entirely.
The lesson is not that every client should jump on every news cycle. They should not. Newsjacking only works when the client has a credible role in the conversation, the spokespeople are ready, and the agency understands the business well enough to move with informed confidence.
Budget night reminded me that speed is not the opposite of strategy. Done well, it is the result of it.
