Earlier this year, Narooma News ran a story about three women from three different states joining forces to promote a petition to ban the release of balloons and the use of helium to inflate balloons.
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On Monday, Karen Joynes of Bermagui, met with Dr Mike Kelly to hand him 2165 signatures from around Australia, including Lord Howe Island. The petition is to go to the House of Representatives Petitions Committee.
Dr Kelly said the marine pollution is deeply concerning, and action needs to be taken.
He will be tendering the petition to the House of Representatives Petitions Committee for them to follow-up.
He will also forward the request for a ban on helium balloons to the relevant state and territory ministers for action.
“There is quite a process to go through but we are hoping the Federal Government will unite the state and territories to agree to a national ban” Ms Joynes said. “We need a national approach, as when released, balloons can travel across state or territory borders, resulting in litter where-ever they land, threatening wildlife and wasting helium.”
The assistance from Balloons Blow organisation is appreciated, as is the effort from all those who collected signatures to the petition, she said.
“Thanks also to Narooma News publicity, there was a great response from this area. Over the time the petition was run, reasons for a ban other than environmental, came to light,” she said.
“A first hand experience by a friend’s son, a pilot, suggests helium balloons are a concern to pilots including seeing a bunch of 20-30 balloons at 19.000 feet was ‘very scary’, and Ostend Airport in Belgium was closed in late November due to a bunch of balloons floating over the airport”.
In addition, there have been quite a number of deaths caused by people breathing in the helium.
Dave West, of Boomerang Alliance, supports a ban on helium balloons, as balloons are no longer made from natural latex, but synthetic material styrene butadiene, which has links to cancer, birth defects and can be passed up the food chain.
“We are going to follow through on this. As well as Boomerang Alliance which represents 45 environment groups including Tangaroa Blue, we have the support of Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre, Lord Howe Island Museum and the Australian Platypus Conservancy,” she said.
