Advocacy group, Campaign for Australian Aid, is continuing its efforts to “interrupt” Treasurer Joe Hockey's budget, despite having a bid for an outdoor sign near Canberra Airport denied for being “too political”.
The 'Interrupt Joe' campaign is the work of Agency, a social change creative studio, with the aim of drawing attention to proposed cuts to Australia's aid budget in The Federal Budget on Tuesday 12 May.
Since February this year the group has engaged in an interactive campaign using print and digital advertisements to drive Australians to the campaign’s website and email Hockey, asking for a fairer aid budget.
Its most recent advertisement attempt on Friday was to use outdoor signs to campaign at Canberra Airport, intended to greet MPs as they travel to Canberra for the budget sitting. However, the sign was denied for being “too political.”
At the time, Campaign for Australian Aid project manager Adam Valvasori said that: “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.”
However, Agency account manager Alex Loftus confirmed to AdNews that the campaign will continue, with the plan for budget night being an online conversation with Australians asking if they think the budget is fair or not. Campaign for Australian Aid will show the impacts the aid cuts have on international development.
She added that there are now more than 13,000 'interruptions' to Hockey.
The campaign has included more grassroots efforts, including taking a fully-branded food truck to universities in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, and also involved creating a quiz called the Fairness Test to see whether Australians are as fair as they think they are.
Campaign for Australian Aid has also taken out full-page advertisements in Joe Hockey's local paper.
Valvasori said the first of a proposed $11 billion in cuts over the next four years is due to take place in the Budget announcement.
“We live in the land of fair go, and Australian aid is one important way that we showcase our national character to the world,” Valvasori said.
“We've suffered the biggest cuts to our aid budget in the history of our nation. 20% of all this government's savings have come from aid – so it's high time for us to try something different and showcase the public’s support for a fair aid budget.”
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