A satirical group of Wollongong "billionaires" and representatives of the fossil fuel industry gathered in the city centre on June 10 for a "Stand up for Big Polluters" rally. They demanded "profits before people and the planet".
The media stunt was organised by the University of Wollongong environment collective and Resistance to promote the national Climate Emergency rallies held on June 13.
Local billionaire Paul Oota (aka Chris Williams from the Socialist Alliance) said Prime Minster Kevin Rudd's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was a triumph for billionaires' rights.
"Global warming is a myth spread by extremist greenies jealous of the well-deserved excesses of the rich", he said. "Our national leaders have sensibly realised this.
"Today we demand: Job cuts not green collar jobs, 0% renewable energy by 2020, global climate justice for big polluters and that Australia take the lead in sabotaging international climate talks in Copenhagen later this year."
Fossil fuel industry lobbyists Baron Von Harrison (aka Resistance member Patrick Harrison) and Phil T Rich (aka Kayne Jansen from the environment collective) accepted a cheque for $9 billion, equivalent to the proposed handouts from the Rudd government to Australia's worst polluters.