PERTH — Twenty "billionaires for coal" and their supporters held a mock rally on the steps of Woodside Plaza on August 11, as parliament resumed for the session that was to vote on the Rudd government's proposed emissions trading scheme.
Speakers included "Paul Ooter" from the coal industry, "Avaricious Hogg", representing the "emissions-intensive trade-exposed industries" and "Anne T Green" from Rio Tinto. They praised the scheme's generous industry subsidies.
The billionaires' placards read: "We pollute and you pay! Ha ha!" and "Let's just buy another planet". They chanted "Pay the polluters more, that what this bill is for!"
and "Handouts for the wealthy, keep our profits healthy!"