Cate Blanchett silent as ad campaign draws heat

CATE Blanchett may be the star of the pro-carbon tax advertising push, but she was silent yesterday in the face of a backlash against the campaign.

CATE Blanchett may be the star of the pro-carbon tax advertising push, but she was silent yesterday in the face of a public backlash against the campaign, leaving a suburban mum on maternity leave to defend the environmental lobby's media blitz.

The Hollywood actress, who urges people to "say yes" to a carbon tax in TV ads that began airing last night, did not return The Australian's calls yesterday, with her minders citing "pre-existing commitments". Actor Michael Caton, who appears alongside Blanchett in the ads, also chose not to front the cameras but Sydney mother of three Laila Bazzi, an accountant, was happy to respond to criticism of the campaign, which is being funded by a coalition of unions and environmental groups.

Ms Bazzi, 39, says her Muslim Lebanese-Australian family were not stereotypical "city greenies", but that she and her dentist husband worry about what climate change will mean for their children.

"We can't get to the point where a lot of the damage we've done is irreversible," she said.

"I've got an accounting background and I understand unless you make pollution cost something, companies are not going to do anything about it."

But her sentiments - and those of many people who support the idea of a carbon tax - have been lost in controversy surrounding the appearance of celebrities such as Blanchett and Caton in the advertising campaign.

Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce decried Blanchett's role, accusing the actress - who lives in a sprawling $10 million mansion in Sydney's Hunters Hill and reportedly spent $1.5m installing solar panels, a 20,000 litre water tank and energy efficient lighting - of not understanding the cost-of-living concerns of ordinary Australians.

"It's very easy for people who have a good wage to suggest that we engage in a gesture which will have no effect, but the people who really pay the price are the ones who can't afford the fundamentals of life right now," Senator Joyce said.

"You're really going to hurt people, Cate, you really are."

While the federal government had no involvement with the campaign, Treasurer Wayne Swan defended Blanchett's involvement, saying she was doing "the responsible thing" by speaking up.

"I admire people who speak their views and Cate Blanchett, along with many others, has a strong view that Australia needs to price carbon," the Treasurer said.

But many in the advertising industry believe the ad campaign will do more harm than good to a federal government that is already finding the idea of a carbon tax to be an extremely tough sell.

"One of the risks of any green campaign is that it appears like lefty, progressive, idealistic and elitist, detached from the struggles of everyday people," advertising executive Adam Ferrier writes in an article published today in the opinion pages of The Australian.

"At worst, Cate is at risk of making the cause elitist. For the millions this (ad campaign) cost, there are so many other ways to change behaviour than having an elitist talking head spruik a carbon tax as easily as spruiking x, y or z."

Blanchett and her playwright husband, Andrew Upton, purchased their $10.2 million, 3600 sq m mansion in the leafy Sydney northwestern suburb of Hunters Hill in 2004. Not long afterwards, the couple undertook a major "greenification" of their property.

Blanchett is reportedly obsessive about the shortness of her showers, and tries to limit her driving to 20km per week.

The house reportedly has a grey-water recycling system and is cooled by natural airflow. Google Earth shows at least 32 solar panels installed on the roof.

The Australian Greens accused polluters and those questioning Blanchett's role of an "ugly attack".

"I think it's time the coal companies started playing the ball, not the woman," Greens MP Adam Bandt said.

"I think this is an extraordinarily ugly attack from the defenders of enormous pollution in Australia and it's time they engaged in the debate in a constructive way." Blanchett has been a long-time environmental crusader. Last year, she was the driving force behind the installation of 1906 solar panels atop the Sydney Theatre Company, part of the $5.2m Greening the Wharf project.

Blanchett and Upton are co-directors of the Sydney Theatre Company, which last week revealed it had earned $703,000 last year from the project.

The STC claims the solar power system, together with energy savings, will provide up to 70 per cent of the company's electricity needs. Chinese-born Australian billionaire Zhengrong Shi contributed $2m .

Caton refused to be interviewed by phone yesterday, but responded to questions by email. He would not be drawn on the decision to use celebrities to promote a pro-tax campaign, but he did say the proposed carbon tax was consistent with Australia's history of innovation.

"What's happened to the belief that Australians can do anything we put our minds to? What's happened to the idea of taking the bull by the horns and turning a problem into an opportunity for success in the future?" he said.

An open letter calling for a carbon price, signed by more than 140 Australians including Caton's Packed To The Rafters co-star Rebecca Gibney, writer and broadcaster Phillip Adams, author Tim Winton, barrister Julian Burnside and actor Tom Long, will be "delivered" to the courtyard of Parliament House in Canberra this morning.

Ms Bazzi said her family, like many others, was concerned about the rising cost of living, but that she and her husband did not think the carbon tax would have a substantial effect. She did not wish to disclose her family's income.

"We have been guaranteed that if the big polluters do try and pass it on households will be compensated," she said.

"I believe that the long-term benefits outweigh the costs."

Australian Conservation Foundation climate campaigner Phil Freeman said TV ads had been booked across all commercial stations for about 10 days during popular shows such as Masterchef.