Kevin Rudd, Australia’s new Labor prime minister, on Sunday sought to put the country at the forefront of action on the environment by announcing plans to ratify the Kyoto protocol immediately and to attend the United Nations climate change conference in Bali next month.

Mr Rudd, whose party won a comprehensive weekend victory over the conservative coalition led by John Howard, has also pledged his government to withdraw 500 frontline troops in Iraq. He said the troops would leave by mid-2008 after consultations with the US and the UK.