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Keisha Castle Hughes wearing the Sign On T-shirt - Source: ONE News -
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Whale Rider star Keisha Castle-Hughes might be one of New Zealand's most celebrated young icons but her stance on climate change is not appreciated by Prime Minister John Key.
"My advice to Keisha is this: Stick to acting," Key told a gathering of 500 business people in Brisbane on Wednesday.
Castle-Hughes, an Oscar nominee for her role in the 2002 film Whale Rider, has been a vocal advocate for Greenpeace's Sign On campaign, which calls for a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
But Key is clearly unimpressed by the target or her work raising the profile of it, making a joke of her efforts at the Australian meeting.
New Zealand is expected to release a considerably lower target at informal climate change talks in Copenhagen next week.
Key told the business meeting he wasn't optimistic about the outcome of the Danish talks, saying "There will be an outcome - I'm just not sure it will be in 2009 at Copenhagen."
He expected it would spill over into 2010, saying a watered-down commitment from developed countries was likely.
The Australian government has said it will work towards a five to 15% cut on 2000 emission levels by 2020.
The targets of both countries are well below the 45% reduction urged by leaders of seven of the smallest and most vulnerable island nations at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Cairns on Tuesday.
Castle-Hughes joined the Greenpeace boat Esperanza for its tour through the Cook Islands to raise awareness of global warming, concluding that "our Pacific neighbours are suffering".
"I saw the real and devastating impacts of a changing climate - coral bleaching, homes battered by cyclones, erosion and food crops affected by rising sea levels," she said on her return.
The 19-year-old mother-of-one vowed to meet with Key to discuss
the issue but the prime minister suggested she make a submission
through the climate change minister.
