ROD McGUIRK
CANBERRA

The front runner in this weekend's Australian general election put climate change firmly at the top of his agenda.

In his last keynote address of the six-week campaign, Labour Party leader Kevin Rudd accused Prime Minister John Howard's 11-year-old government of being tired, out-of-touch and ill-equipped to cope with a new generation of issues such as global warming and high-speed internet access.

Australia, under Howard, was one of the countries along with the United States which failed to sign up to the 1997 Kyoto protocol aimed at limiting carbon dioxide emissions.

"Saturday will decide whether Australia gets stuck in the world's slow lane, letting other nations pass us by, or whether Australia decides to shift up a gear so we can properly realise our true potential as a nation," Rudd said.

He claimed he would immediately reverse Howard's refusal to accept Australia's targets set out in the Kyoto treaty.

He said he would represent Australia at the UN climate change meeting next month in Bali to map out the next stage of the international fight against global warming.

Rudd, a Chinese-speaking former diplomat, also promised to have in place by next year a national target for renewable energy sources - such as wind and solar power - providing 20% of Australia's energy needs by 2020.

Howard, 68, argues that the 50-year-old Rudd is too inexperienced and cannot be trusted to run the economy.

He warned against Australia signing up to carbon reduction targets if developing countries such as China and India did not.

Rudd said Howard had failed to invest in the nation's water shortage. Australia is experiencing its worst drought in a century.

Opinion polls have long given Rudd a clear lead over Howard nationally, but the race may be tighter than broad polling suggests because the result will probably hang on what happens in a few closely-held districts.

In his speech, Rudd reiterated his plans for an "education revolution" in schools and universities.

Howard based his campaign for a fifth term around his government's economic management, which has capitalised on booming demand from China and India for Australia's coal and minerals.

Australia is in an unprecedented 17th year of economic growth, and unemployment is at a 33-year low.

Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama warned Chinese industrial polluters could damage the fragile environment of the Tibetan highlands.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader said the devastation could affect hundreds of millions of people, since many of the rivers that provide Asia with water originate in Tibet.

"The climate of the Tibetan plateau is high and dry, and experts say that once you damage such an environment it takes a longer period to recover than lower places," he said during a visit to Japan.

He blamed corrupt practices by Chinese businesses whose factories dumped waste into rivers.

China has ruled Tibet since it invaded in 1951. The Dalai Lama has lived with followers in exile in India since fleeing Tibet in 1959.-AP