Why are we attacking Cate Blanchett for fighting for what she believes in, asks The Weekly's Executive Editor Juliet Rieden.
It's frustrating to see Cate Blanchett attacked for lobbying in support of a carbon tax purely on the basis of her wealth.
Are rich people immune from having opinions on issues of public and vital environmental importance?
Cate, we are told, is worth $53 million, she's also a Hollywood star, and confirmed luvvie as joint artistic director at The Sydney Theatre Company, but this is hardly a new crusade for the mother of three, far from it.
Conservation issues and protection of the planet — specifically Australia's environment — are more than a hobby horse for Cate Blanchett and husband Andrew Upton, they're a way of life.
When she announced her new position as head honchette of the Sydney Theatre Company back in 2008, a substantial part of the ensuing press conference was devoted to how she intended to use green energy to power the theatre and incorporate sustainable initiatives and that is exactly what she's done through the "Greening the Wharf" scheme.
She's also been an ambassador for the Australian Conservation Foundation's Who On Earth Cares campaign, is the patron of Solaraid and has turned her own Hunters Hill residence into an eco-friendly family home with solar panelling, grey-water recycling and energy-saving lights.
This is not a random bandwagon Cate can be accused of hitching herself to, it's one that is very much part of who she is.
Whatever your personal green politics may be, there's no question that this Hollywood star is prepared to live the cause.
Using Cate as a poster girl for their TV campaign to support the introduction of a carbon tax would therefore seem to be a no brainer for the Climate Institute: she's well-known, she's passionate and she practices what she's preaching… if it weren't of course for that age-old Aussie spectre the tall poppy syndrome.
The assumption that Cate can't champion a tax that makes perfect sense to anyone who supports the fight to save our planet for future generations simply because she's a rich Hollywood star is not only ridiculous it's insulting to her as a political activist.
Your say: What do you think about Cate's stance on carbon tax?
Video: Prominent Australians defend Cate Blanchett's carbon tax ad
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