Canberra Airport censors latest campaign via Agency, Sydney promoting Australian Aid

A​n advertisement by the Campaign for Australian Aid via Agency, Sydney asking treasurer Joe Hockey to respond to the concerns of 13,000 Australians has been denied by Canberra Airport for being ‘too political.’

The Campaign for Australian Aid has been trying to reach the Treasurer after he failed to respond to 13,000 emails asking him to reconsider his planned cuts to Australian aid in the upcoming federal budget.

The campaign has tried to elicit a response from Mr. Hockey through some unusual methods; posting advertisements in his local paper, hiring scooters bearing their message to follow him to work and today’s attempt to purchase advertising space at Canberra Airport intended to greet MPs as they travel to Canberra for the budget sitting.

Says Adam Valvasori, the manager of the campaign: “The decision by Canberra airport not to run our advertisement is incredibly disappointing. The ad isn’t a personal attack, or even a political statement, it simply asks Mr. Hockey to hear the voices of thousands of concerned Australians who don’t want to see further cuts to the Australian aid budget.

“What’s more concerning is that as of today 13,000 Australians have directly asked the Treasurer for a response, and we still haven’t heard from him on this issue.”

This latest campaign development follows a piece by comedian and satirist, Charlie Pickering on his new show, The Weekly. Mr. Pickering dissected the planned cuts to Australian aid, describing our contribution as ‘such a small piece of the Budget pie’ that all we give are the ‘bits of the pie that stick to the knife when you cut it.’

The first of a purported $11 billion of cuts over the next four years is due to take place when the budget is announced on 12 May. In preparation, many of Australia’s largest international aid and development organisations have already begun to prepare for deep cuts to their life-saving projects. If the cuts to the aid budget do go ahead, Australia will become the least generous it has ever been.