Conservation groups are scratching their heads after Adelaide airport pulled their ads targeting Labor politicians for being “too political,” while ads promoting gas and mining kept running like nothing happened. Labor bigwigs, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, have been streaming through the airport for this weekend’s ALP national conference, presumably oblivious to the billboard drama unfolding around them.

The Murray-Darling Conservation Alliance (MDCA) had its “Save the Murray” ad yanked from a concourse electronic billboard on 22 July, even though it was contracted to run until 26 July. Co-director Craig Wilkins noted wryly that the ad was “approved and paid for, and suddenly it was gone,” while ads from Santos, the Minerals Council of Australia, and Independent Schools Australia continued their rotation. One ad featuring “Australia runs on natural gas” even carried a political authorization message from Samantha McCulloch, CEO of Australian Energy Producers. That one, The Guardian understands, has since been stopped - but only after the damage to the groups’ faith in fair play was done.

The Adelaide Park Lands Association tried to run a “Stop the Chop” campaign against tree removal, but their billboard was declined last Friday, just days before it was due to go up. President Mat Monti lamented that “corporate interest is trumping community interest.” The Bob Brown Foundation’s ads, showing a logged forest and calling for an end to native forest logging, were given the boot from noon on 23 July after a decision by the airport. Bob Brown himself called it “Trump-lite behaviour” and demanded Albanese insist the ads be reinstated.

An Adelaide airport spokesperson explained that they have “guidelines relating to advertising on its land that is political in nature” and that non-compliant ads will be removed. Apparently, ads for fossil fuels and mining don’t count as political - a distinction that conservation groups find, shall we say, illuminating.