Australia's new prime minister, Kevin Rudd, made climate change his top priority on Sunday, seeking advice on ratifying the Kyoto pact and telling Indonesia he will go to December's UN climate summit in Bali.
Rudd, who swept aside 11 years of conservative rule by John Howard in Saturday elections, also spoke to US President George Bush by phone, but would not say when he planned to start a promised withdrawal of 500 Australian combat troops from Iraq.
"I emphasised to President Bush the centrality of the US alliance in our approach to foreign policy," Mr Rudd said in his first press conference today as prime minister elect, adding he would visit Washington early next year.
Mr Rudd (50), presented himself to voters as a new-generation leader by promising to pull troops out of Iraq and ratify the Kyoto Protocol capping greenhouse gas emissions, further isolating Washington on both issues.
But while he intends to immediately overturn Mr Howard's opposition to the Kyoto pact, Mr Rudd has said he would negotiate a gradual withdrawal of Australian frontline forces from Iraq.
Mr Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat, said he discussed Kyoto ratification with his British counterpart Gordon Brown, as well as Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"President Yudhoyono formally invited me to attend the Bali conference, which will of course deal with climate change and where we go to now on Kyoto. I responded positively," he said.
Mr Rudd, a staunch Christian, attended church today and planned talks with officials and advisers about administrative arrangements for ratification of Kyoto as soon as possible.