We ask the Queensland Palaszczuk government to ban helium filled balloons for marketing purposes of any kind and in any way, and to limit ceremonial balloon releases to less than 20 balloons to be released only at private events not associated with organisations of any kind, including charities and clubs, due to the negative impact on marine and wildlife.

On 7th August 2015 it was noted that a number of organisations, including at least one charity, one major television station and one major political party, were handing out large numbers of helium filled balloons at Ekka, the annual Royal Queensland Show held in Brisbane, Australia.  People handing out balloons on behalf of Channel 7 and LNP were repeatedly asked to consider the impact those balloons will have on marine and wildlife.

The negative impact of helium filled balloons on the environment, and especially marine and wildlife, has been discussed widely and is well documented.  CSIRO scientist found, for example, that plastic is now found in 80 per cent of bird species. Birds mistake brightly coloured items for food which causes gut impaction, weight loss and potentially death ('Scientists gutted as plastic takes toll on wildlife' - Courier Mail 02/09/2015).

When in 2013 Keep Queensland Beautiful tried to get the release of helium filled balloons banned, it was reported in the Courier Mail's Quest (16/08/2013): "Balloon Artists and Suppliers Association of Australasia’s Queensland president Gunter Blum said the days of releasing large amounts of balloons in celebration were gone with the wind." "Mr Blum said a combination of environmental and economic factors had led to the plummet in helium balloon sales for release."

Sadly, this does not seem to be the case at all. While Channel 7 seemed to remain silent,  LNP, the party that wants to lead Queensland with promises like 'Preserving Australia’s natural beauty and the environment for future generations' (LNP.org.au), went out of their way to demonstrate their total disregard for the damages caused by helium filled balloons and balloon tie-strings by posting videos focused on their bright yellow and blue helium balloons and comments about those balloons on social media accessible to more than one billion active users. 

Adam Joseph, Director, Social Media & Digital Marketing at Lawrence Springborg, the current LNP leader, wrote on Lawrence Springborg's Facebook page on 14 August 2015 in reply to a request to stop handing out balloons also in view of the associated littering: "... of course nobody likes to see their brand associated with litter, especially in our wonderful parks and reserves. That's why our side of politics has long been a champion of ramsar listings, direct action environmentalism, the National Packaging Covenant, and a funder of Keep Australia Beautiful's National Litter Index research. (It's also the reason we tie a string to every balloon we're handing out at Ekka.) I hope you enjoy the show!"

During Ekka 2015 the LNP alone handed out 30.000 balloons. It is estimated that altogether at least 50.000 balloons were handed out over the nine days the Royal Queensland Show was on, each with a string of about one meter attached.

This means that over a period of nine days we had, in effect, the ridiculous amount of at least 50,000 meters of brightly coloured strings distributed in Brisbane, of which each may end up on a bird's beak or feet or in the stomach of a turtle, or cause drains to block. It doesn't help if those strings are biodegradable or compostable or even if they are disposed off in a rubbish bin. Marine and wildlife affected by entanglements cannot wait for months for the strings to be composted and birds can get entangled while scavenging at the rubbish dump if the strings are not cut into small pieces.

Entanglements are the major cause of rescues required by Qld based volunteer seabird rescue organisations like Pelican and Seabird Rescue Inc.. While most of those entanglements are due to fishing line, any piece of tough material like stockings or wet wipes, or any piece of string of any kind, can cause birds and other wild life to be become entangled.  Entanglements can cause wildlife to suffer slow and agonising deaths and significant distress in onlookers who become aware of wildlife struggling with entanglements.

This recent event has clearly demonstrated, that the marketplace has NOT found its own regulation and that organisations of any kind can't be trusted to consider our environment when marketing their brands to gain an advantage over their competitors. Hence, only a total ban would stop organisations from handing out huge quantities of helium filled balloons for marketing purposes, each with a string attached.

Although every single helium balloon can potentially harm marine and wildlife, a total ban would most likely cause significant resentment within the community. Instead, suppliers of helium filled balloons should be required to display information about problems associated with those balloons.  Also, ceremonial balloon releases should be discouraged and limited to less than 20 at any one time to private events not associated with organisations of any kind, including charities and clubs, and especially political parties.

CSIRO scientists said that Australia was one of the worst places for plastic pollution and called on governments to take action ('Scientists gutted as plastic takes toll on wildlife' - Courier Mail 02/09/2015).