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Rock star, Asian-born woman head Australian change on climate

A former rock star and an Asian-born woman were named to spearhead the new Australian government's environmental policies.

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SYDNEY: A former rock star and an Asian-born woman were named on Thursday to spearhead the new Australian government's environmental policies, which include ratifying the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.   

Former Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett was appointed Minister for the Environment by prime minister-elect Kevin Rudd, whose centre-left Labor Party ousted John Howard's conservative government in elections last weekend.   

Malaysian-born Penny Wong will be Minister for Climate Change and Water, with responsibility for international negotiations on the Kyoto treaty, which aims to curb the emission of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.   

Rudd has pledged to reverse Howard's policy and ratify the UN treaty, leaving US President George W Bush isolated as the only major world leader to refuse to do so.

Rudd told a news conference that both new ministers would accompany him to a key UN conference in Bali next month which aims to produce plans for action on climate change beyond 2012, when current Kyoto commitments expire.

"Penny will have responsibility for our international negotiations on Kyoto and Kyoto plus, she will have responsibility for the negotiations of our domestic emissions trading regime," he said. 

Rudd said Garrett would be responsible for delivering key climate-change programmes within Australia, including 'solar programmes, water-efficiency programmes and general energy efficiency programmes'.

Climate change became a major issue in the Australian election campaign against the backdrop of the worst drought in living memory and Rudd pledged to make the environment one of his government's top priorities.   

"A core part of Labor's agenda for the future is climate change, water and the environment," he said.

"When I attend Bali in just a couple of weeks time, I will be attending that conference with Peter and Penny."

Shaven-headed Garrett, 54, was for 26 years the vocalist for Midnight Oil, named by Rolling Stone magazine as 'one of the most significant bands ever to emerge from Australia'.   

The band was known for its active support of a range of contemporary concerns including the plight of homeless youth, indigenous people's rights and protection of the environment. 

He was elected to parliament in 2004 and became shadow minister for climate change, environment, heritage and the arts, but lost climate change to Wong after making a few gaffes during the election campaign.    Wong moved from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia to Australia as an eight year old in 1977.

"At that time, Asian people and culture were less prominent in the Australian community and it was not always easy for Asians to find acceptance," her official website says. 

Wong worked as a lawyer before being elected as a Labor senator in 2001.   

She was the first Asian-born woman to enter federal parliament, and says she believes that 'the fundamental national political challenge of our day is to renew Australia's underlying value of a fair go for everybody'.   

In the outgoing parliament she had held the posts of shadow minister for Employment and Workforce Participation and for Corporate Governance and Responsibility.   

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