AUSTRALIA'S GREEN IMAGE PROBLEM

The German ambassador has involved himself in Australia's internal politics:

Germany's Ambassador has told farmers they are being disadvantaged by the Federal Government's failure to back the Kyoto protocol.

Ambassador Martin Lutz is touring north-east Victoria this week and says although our produce is environmentally sound, European consumers will ignore it without the protocol.

"Australia has a problem when it comes to green image because everybody knows they didn't join the Kyoto protocol and have the highest capita emissions of greenhouse gases in the world," he said.

"And so it would help very much if Australia improves this image because also the farmers here suffer a little bit from that relatively negative image."

The EU, even with its less than scintillating economic perfromance, can't meet its Kyoto obligations and the German ambassador lectures us.

Lutz is probably hoping Australia's farmers go on a French-style tractor-burning, pro-Kyoto, anti-Howard riot rampage.