The results of the Australian federal election this weekend have stirred up waves of excitement not only in our antipodean offices but also around the world in anticipation that the country's government will finally, at long last, ratify the international Kyoto agreement on climate change.
According to Greenpeace Australia, it was an election in which climate change was one of the top issues (but don't just take their word for it, the BBC thought so too) and changes are already afoot. Out-going prime minister John Howard is replaced by Labor's Kevin Rudd who, as part of his manifesto, pledged to ratify Kyoto, an action that could have far-reaching consequences for global climate politics.
Along with the US, Australia is the only big polluting country involved in the Kyoto process not to have ratified. If Rudd honours his promise, it will leave George Bush without the support he received from Australia in his stick-in-the-mud attitude towards Kyoto, and make him even more isolated in the twilight months of his administration.