Penny Wong earns her salary in the face of boys club opposition

With so much Federal Labor promise threatening to turn into ashes, it is heartening to see The Australian report the following last Friday:

TENSIONS are emerging between major greenhouse emitters and Climate Minister Penny Wong after a number of hostile meetings before the release of the Government's green paper on emissions trading in July.
Senator Wong has told small groups of chief executives from major power and other energy-intensive companies that the Rudd Government's election promise of a renewable energy target was "not negotiable".
One of these meetings in Melbourne last Tuesday completely broke down, with Senator Wong reportedly furious at the way she was being treated by the eight business leaders present, telling them "you wouldn't treat (former Treasurer) Peter Costello the way you are treating me".
Those present at the meetings, described by a spokesman for Senator Wong as "frank and robust," included Rio Tinto Australia managing director Stephen Creese, International Power executive director Tony Concannon, Alumina Limited chief executive John Marlay and senior executives from Exxon Mobil, CSR and BHP Billiton.
Big business and economists are growing concerned about the Government's refusal to budge on its 20 per cent renewable energy target by 2020 on top of an emissions trading scheme.

Senator Wong appears to have the spine her leader sometimes fails to publicly show when faced with those multinational bully boys.
If it's any consolation for the senator; these captains of industry would have treated her with even more contempt if she had knuckled under and won't ever respect her for any stand she takes (even if it favours them) because she is after all, shock and horror, a female.