Penny Wong fiddles while the earth burns

Penny Wong was the target of protesters including the Safe Climate Coalition when she came to Perth on Wed 30 September.

As climate change minister, Penny Wong is responsible for selling the Rudd government's emissions trading scheme, known as the CPRS - "Continue Polluting Regardless Scheme".

The CPRS encourages ongoing pollution by giving $16 billion in handouts to Australia's biggest polluters. Perversely, the more they pollute, the bigger the payout they receive. This $16 billion would be better spent directly building renewable energy infrastructure.

The CPRS only commits Australia to a 5% reduction in emissions but even this is more theoretical than real. Treasury modeling shows that baseline emissions will not fall before 2035!

Safe Climate Coalition was formed to bring into effect the goals of the 2009 Summit for Climate Action which included a target of 100% renewable energy by 2020.

These pictures are from the September 30 protest outside the Sheraton hotel.

Contact Safe Climate to get involved and help promote actions like this in the future.