Labor Party wins Australian election, moves to enforce Kyoto

After reaffirming a commitment to provide incentives for hybrid vehicle development in Australia, Kevin Rudd and his party soundly won this weekend's election. The new Prime Minister's first moves on Sunday were to examine how to go about having Australia ratify the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas reduction. Rudd has already accepted an invitation from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's for a meeting in Bali in December to make plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It will be interesting to watch what, if any, policy changes the new government makes with regard to the Australian auto industry. Companies like Ford and GM-Holden still produce mainly larger rear wheel drive cars in the country and Holden even has engineering responsibility for GM's Zeta rear-drive platform that will be used for the new Pontiac G8 sedan and the Chevrolet Camaro. While Rudd has promised incentives for development of more efficient vehicles, it's unknown if the new government will do anything to try and influence demand for such vehicles.
[Source: Associated Press]