Australian elections over the weekend resulted in a new prime minister, as the country’s Labor party won a majority of seats away from the Liberal party for the first time in more than 11 years.
Kevin Rudd, who has said dealing with climate change will be one of his top priorities, will be the new Prime Minister, replacing John Howard–a staunch ally of U.S. President Bush on environmental policy issues and the war in Iraq.
Rudd told voters he would pull troops out of Iraq and ratify the Kyoto Protocol if he became Prime Minister. Reports state he has already taken steps to immediately sign the global initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and he has accepted an invitation to attend the UN Climate Conference in Bali, Indonesia next month. It is uncertain how quickly he intends to remove Australian troops from Iraq.
Much attention has been given to the fact that Rudd is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and has served as an Australian diplomat to China. It is expected that Rudd will form closer ties with China.
Cabinet positions, including environmental minister, are expected to be announced soon. Peter Garrett, former lead singer for the rock band Midnight Oil, served as the Labor party’s shadow minister for Climate Change, Environment & Heritage, Arts, and is a likely choice for the position.
Garrett who served as head of the Australian Conservation Foundation has been in Parliament since 2004. His position on climate change has been criticized by Greenpeace Australia Pacific, which gave him a 1.85 rating out of 5 on their climate change correctness scale.
According to Greenpeace, Garrett does not support a 30% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020, which the organization states is critical to combating climate change.
Anthony Albanese, who was shadow minister for Infrastructure & Water and Manager of Opposition Business in the House, is another possible candidate for the position of environmental minister.
Most notably, Albanese made a motion during the Labor Party’s national conference last April to maintain the ban on no new uranium mines. Rudd made a motion to change the policy, winning a narrow margin of support.
The Australian Green party picked up three seats, bringing their total to five–third behind the Labor and Liberal parties.
In other world News:
China announced that it will hold a symposium in Beijing next year for Asian countries to discuss strategies for dealing with climate change.
Last week SustainableBuisness.com reported that China and India both signed an agreement at the East Asian Summit to address the threat of climate change. And although China has insisted that rich nations should take the lead, the announcement of this symposium shows that China is taking a regional leadership role on the issue.
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