Apparently influential columnist Andrew Bolt in his column June 6th 2007 in Melbourne

Howard's last gasp 

has called in effect for a 6 week time line on removal of PM John Howard to be replaced by Peter Costello .... who as Treasurer took a grilling from Kerry O'Brien of the 7.30 Report last night

Government welcomes strong economic figures 

on why his Cabinet submission to act on climate change was rejected by PM Howard 4 years ago 2003. Costello was very light hearted and patient saying he had "set his course" sounding very much like "I told you so".

Also climate change sceptic Cardinal George Pell has been roundly and collectively repudiated by the NSW ALP - ostensibly on stem cell research, but also the subtext of climate change? One wonders. It would be interesting to know if Pell is quoted in the PM Howard's so called Clever Climate PR advertising package.

It would be quite orthodox for Pell to be in Howard's PR as a trenchant critic of the Greens and their alleged rival religious belief in global warming.

The ALP (federal and state) presumably know they have to neutralise Catholic cardinal Pell prior to the next federal election vis a vis Catholic voters on global warming let alone stem cell research for medical benefits.

And to underline how the climate is the main game PM Howard is in the news today prefacing attempts on a post Kyoto international deal at the Sept APEC in Sydney:

Let's replace flawed Kyoto: PM

MARK DAVIS | John Howard will use this year's APEC summit to try to forge an international consensus on climate change.

Just as Glen Milne has written about this recently: Glenn Milne: APEC makes heavy weather for Howard | Opinion | The ...

Our sense of this is that it's all too late for long time, allegedly indispensible PM Howard.

...............

Which calls up this article (offline it seems) by Geoff Gallop hidden away in Higher Education May 16th in Murdoch press The Australian, perhaps explaining again his journey from depression to light in his new job as director of the graduate school of government at Sydney University (from which campus this writer is still capriciously banned?):

Not just the grip of the Bourke cronies running developer corruption through the ranks, not just the pro uranium mining stoush with federal colleagues, but also the underlying existential philosophical foundations of a post industrial economy. It's an article as if written by and for the Green Party:

Postscript #1 - press backgrounder climate change, G8, APEC

PM Howard seems to have woken up that climate change is a global problem and isn't going away on his watch judging by the press today. Shortly we will add a snapshot of the headlines. But for now some links showing that Howard like his mentor Bush regime are trying to play catchup for APEC in Sept if not G8 on now.

There is an intriguing side play to all this: Why was Peter Hartcher's so called blog story excluded from the paper version of the newspaper today: John & George and the G8: Who's copying whose homework? posted "6 June 2007 5.32 pm"?

This reminds us of the Marian Wilkinson story of the Singapore diplomatic alarm at nuclear energy (or worse) proliferation/safety problems in south east Asia, which also missed the paper print version: Asia-Pacific nuclear authority plan scuttled after safety debate ...

Other serious reporters today on this evolving geo politik theme of how to save our planet today, in scary real time are here:

Blair will be at his most persuasive

Canada joins PM on climate (p1 of The Australian)

Mike Steketee blog: Playing on fear

Vital role for APEC in any post-Kyoto framework

Dalai Lama calls for climate change action | The Daily Telegraph

including quote from Virgin Blue airline chief Brett Godfrey in furious agreement at a function with the Dalai.

Airline industry wakes up to green debate far too late

Good oil on carbon trading needed now