The newly elected Australian prime minister has made signing the Kyoto Protocol his top priority, according to his deputy, Julia Gillard. Kevin Rudd plans to act quickly to sign the climate change pact, fulfilling a campaign promise. This move will allow Australia to have a more prominent role at an upcoming international meeting on environmental issues in Bali, Indonesia. The US, the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, is now isolated as the only Western country not to ratify the pact, while Australia remains the worst polluter per capita. Rudd's proposal to gradually withdraw Australia's 550 combat troops from Iraq could potentially strain Australia's close relationship with the US. Following congratulatory messages from foreign leaders, including a phone call from US president George Bush, Rudd revealed plans to visit Washington next year. After winning the elections on Saturday, Rudd spent a second day in meetings with senior officials to prepare for assuming power. He is scheduled to meet with newly elected members of parliament from his Labor party on Thursday to select his ministerial team, which will then be sworn in by governor-general Michael Jefferey shortly thereafter. The government is currently in caretaker mode. Officials have stated that Rudd, who ended almost 12 years of conservative rule with his victory, has already begun working on rewriting the country's labour laws as he promised during his campaign. There are still uncertainties regarding the leadership of the coalition that lost the election and is now the new opposition. John Howard, the outgoing prime minister, is likely to lose his seat in parliament, while his chosen successor, deputy Peter Costello, surprised everyone on Sunday by announcing he did not want the job. Former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull and former health minister Tony Abbott have both stated their intentions to compete for the position of opposition leader. The ballots were still being counted on Monday, with the extent of Rudd's victory and a few closely contested districts still to be determined. One of these districts is Bennelong in Sydney, which has been held by Howard for 33 years. This could result in Australia's second-longest serving leader losing both the government and his seat in parliament. Howard admitted on Saturday that he will likely no longer represent Bennelong. Labor's Maxine McKew, a former TV presenter, currently has a slight lead over Howard, and the final outcome may come down to postal votes.