Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to present a petition by concerned Australians on the issue of helium filled balloons. Petition EN4351 was signed by 3,354 citizens and has been considered by the Petitions Committee and found to be in order. It calls for the prohibition of the release of any number of helium filled balloons and calls for the regulation of the sale and use of helium to inflate balloons and to stop the release of helium filled balloons into the environment.

I would like to thank my constituent Karen Joynes from Bermagui, who has tirelessly campaigned on this issue for many years. We all love balloons, but when they're used outdoors they can escape into the environment and end up in our oceans or waterways and can cause harm to our precious wildlife. In 2019 CSIRO found that seabirds are up to 32 times more likely to die when they swallow balloons than any other form of hard plastic. In 2017, when I was mayor of the Bega Valley shire, we successfully moved a motion to ban the release of balloons at council events and on council managed reserves. At the time, I committed to council to advocate for the banning of the release of balloons at the regional, state and national levels. I am, therefore, pleased to table this petition today.

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