Today’s drama in Australian politics concerns actress Cate Blanchett’s appearance in a new television advertisement advocating a carbon tax. She has been accused of being out of touch by promoting the benefits of the tax which she can afford to pay, unlike many Australians.
Blanchett is apparently worth about $53m, which seems in the minds of some to disqualify her from having an opinion.
National Party Senate leader Barnaby Joyce said the ad made Blanchett look self-indulgent. He said:
"$53 million gives you a whole heap of latitude to care about a lot of things,"
"If you really care, how about you give some money to help people meet the increased costs they are about to face?
Terri Kelleher, of The Australian Families Association, said this:
"It’s nice to have a multi-millionaire who won’t be impacted by it telling you how great it is. It’s easy for her to advocate it, she’s one of the people who can afford to pay it.
"There are people who have no comfort zone and no room to move."
It’s ironic that the Coalition is using Blanchett’s wealth as a weapon to discredit her views on this issue. How about the wealth of mining billionaire’s like Andrew Forrest and Clive Palmer? Way too rich, just have to ignore anything they have to say about anything. And does it mean that Rupert Murdoch and all his minions at News Limited are dealt out of public debate? He is seriously rich, so clearly way, way out of touch with the realities of ordinary people.
