House of Assembly Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Answers to Questions Black Balloons Campaign BLACK BALLOONS CAMPAIGN Mr HAMILTON-SMITH House of Assembly Waite Leader of the Opposition BLACK BALLOONS CAMPAIGN 117 Mr HAMILTON-SMITH (Waite—Leader of the Opposition) (30 September 2008). What is the total cost of the 'Black Balloons' climate change awareness campaign and how is the government assessing the impact of the campaign? The Hon. M.D. RANN House of Assembly Ramsay Premier Minister for Economic Development Minister for Social Inclusion Minister for the Arts Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change BLACK BALLOONS CAMPAIGN The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change): I have been advised of the following: The Government committed to developing a statewide community awareness and behaviour change program, to encourage individuals, households and the community to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. $675,000 was allocated to this in 2007-08, and a further $500,000 has been allocated for 2008-09 to extend the program. The program includes a media campaign ('black balloon' advertisements) highlighting the link between energy use in our homes and the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Campaign research has been undertaken by an independent market research company. A telephone survey was conducted prior to the commencement of the media campaign, with a further survey conducted at the conclusion of the 2007-08 campaign. The survey was based on initial research undertaken by the Government in 2005. The conclusions of this research found that: Climate change and global warming is considered an important environmental issue by the community—and has grown significantly in importance since the initial survey was conducted. There has been an increase in community understanding that there is something they can do to personally to reduce the impact of climate change. The belief that climate change will have a direct personal impact has steadily increased since the initial campaign. The overall understanding of the facts about climate change has increased. The majority of people surveyed could recall advertising about climate change in the last six months. Of those who could recall climate change advertising, the majority could recall the main messages from the 'black balloons' campaign. In addition, website visits to the State Government's climate change website—where the community can access further information on what they can do to reduce their impact on climate change—are being monitored. Since the campaign commenced, visits to the site have increased by more than 200 per cent. These positive findings reinforce that the black balloons campaign has been making steady progress since its commencement.