From Envirowiki

Australia is the large landmass between southeast asia and antartica. It's a single nation, in white man terms, but is also home to many hundreds of groups of indigenous australians. It's often called the world's biggest island, or the smallest continent, and is home to hundreds of species of animals unique to the land mass.

Contents 1 Politics 2 Environmental record 3 Geography 4 Resources 5 See also 6 Sources

[edit] 1 Politics

The Rudd Labor Government was elected in November 2007, kicking out the Howard government, the incumbent government of Australia for the previous 11 years (since 1996). Most recent Australian governments have had neo-liberal economic policies, and have been social conservatives.

In contrast to the parties in power, Australia had the world's first Green party, which has been growing steadily since it's inception in the 1970s, and now has 5 senators in federal government.

[edit] 2 Environmental record

australia has the highest per capita greenhouse emissions of any country at 27.2 tonnes CO₂ equivalent per person per annum^[1], although the Pew report has australia ranked at #5, at 6.8 tonnes of carbon-equivalent per person per year.^[2]

In 2005, Australia exported 5,915 trillion Btu of thermal and coking coal^[3], more than any other country, (the next closest is Indonesia at 2,846 trillion btu). This was over a quarter of the world's annual exports.

see also: CPRS, Garnaut Climate Change Review, Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Australian Greenhouse Office.

[edit] 3 Geography

mostly desert, except for the densley populated eastern seaboard, whch was once covered with rainforest and woodlands.

[edit] 4 Resources

Australia has around 40 % of the world's usable Uranium deposits^{[reference needed]}, and is the world's largest exporter of coal (although not the largest miner).

[edit] 5 See also

• Australian UNFCCC delegates
• Australian coal power stations
• List of Indigenous Australian groups

[edit] 6 Sources

1. ↑ Greenhouse gas emissions in industrialised countries - Where does Australia stand? p.5, The Australia Institute
2. ↑ CLIMATE DATA: INSIGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS, by Kevin Baumert Jonathan Pershing, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
3. ↑ World Coal Supply and Disposition, 2005, Energy Information Administration, September 17, 2007