The politics of John Howard - Australian prime minister, friend of George W. Bush, enemy of environmentalists and rejecter of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change - has developed an uncharacteristically greenish hue in the past few weeks.

Cynics will dismiss his apparent change of heart after more than 10 years in office as opportunism, just as they mocked Mr Bush's belated interest in energy efficiency. The greening of Mr Howard is a reaction to a profound change of mood in Australia and is conveniently timed for the general election expected by the year's end.