Australia's government introduced carbon trade laws into parliament yesterday. But Kevin Rudd, the prime minister, faces a battle to get them passed into law and warned that he might need an early election if his reforms were blocked. The carbon-trade plan is a central plank of Australia's efforts to fight global warming. But the government is struggling to find an extra seven votes it needs to pass the laws through parliament's upper house. Australia is due to hold elections in late 2010.