Australian Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd has been sworn in as prime minister, following a landslide victory in parliamentary elections last week. Immediately after the ceremony, he signed documents to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, reversing the previous administration’s policy. “This is the first official act of the new Australian government,” he said. Australia’s new stance on Kyoto will isolate the US as the only developed nation not to have ratified the treaty. Mr Rudd is due to attend the UN climate change conference in Bali next week with four of his ministers.
Mr Rudd’s appointment as prime minister ends more than 11 years of conservative government under his predecessor John Howard.
As well as signing up to the Kyoto Protocol, the new government is committed to withdrawing Australia’s combat troops from Iraq.
Filed under: Global warming, Kyoto | Tagged: Kevin Rudd, Kyoto
