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Julia Gillard ousted as Australia prime minister Julia Gillard ousted as Australia prime minister
(about 2 hours later)
Australia's first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, has been sacked by her party and replaced by the man she ousted three years ago. Australia's first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, has been sacked by her party just months ahead of the next election and replaced by the man she ousted three years ago.
After an unprecedented day of political bloodletting in Canberra, Kevin Rudd beat Gillard to become Labor party leader in a ballot of MPs by a margin of 57 to 45. It is only the second time a sitting Australian prime minister has been removed from office by their party; Rudd's removal was the first. After an unprecedented day of political bloodletting in Canberra, Kevin Rudd beat Gillard to become Labor party leader in a ballot of MPs by a margin of 57 to 45. It is only the second time a sitting Australian prime minister has been removed from office by their party; Rudd was the first.
Gillard laid down the challenge to Rudd, when she called on Wednesday for a do-or-die ballot on the condition that the loser retire from parliament to end the debilitating Labor leadership war.Gillard laid down the challenge to Rudd, when she called on Wednesday for a do-or-die ballot on the condition that the loser retire from parliament to end the debilitating Labor leadership war.
Gillard said she had called the ballot on the basis that "if you win, you are Labor leader; if you lose, you retire from politics" and was now expected to retire. A cabinet reshuffle is expected. Shortly after the vote Gillard confirmed she would not contest the next election. A cabinet reshuffle is expected and a number of former Gillard ministers have already tendered their resignations.
The day of high drama began in the morning, when supporters of Rudd, who had advocated his return to the leadership for virtually the entire three years of the hung parliament, began circulating a petition to try to force a contest in this, the last sitting week of parliament before the September election. In her concession speech, Gillard congratulated Rudd and called on the party to fight to win the September election. She acknowledged that her tenure as prime minister had been difficult, saying: "In the years in which I've served as prime minister, predominantly I've faced a minority government and political division in my own party. It has not been an easy parliament to operate in."
Within hours, Gillard went on the attack and made the dramatic decision to hold a snap vote on her position and, in effect, the job of prime minister. "It is in the best interest of the nation and the Labor party for this to be resolved," she said. "This is it. There are no more opportunities, tonight's the night." Gillard also reflected on her role as the country's first female prime minister. "The reaction to being the first female PM does not explain everything about my prime ministership, nor does it explain nothing about my prime ministership," she said.
Wednesday's change of leader follows months of speculation, during which Gillard made it clear that she would not stand down, despite opinion polls that repeatedly showed Rudd to be the more popular leader. "I've been a little bit bemused by those colleagues in the newspapers who have admitted that I have suffered more pressure as a result of my gender than other PMs in the past but then concluded it had zero effect on my political position or the political position of the Labor party."
With the party's support dwindling at about 30%, and the prospect of Labor losing at least half of its parliamentary seats, she stood firm while Rudd's backers plotted. With tears in her eyes, she talked about what her term as prime minister might mean for other female leaders: "What I am absolutely confident of is it will be easier for the next woman and the woman after that and the woman after that and I'm proud of that."
Once Gillard called the leadership ballot, the third time she had agreed to contest her position in as many years, Rudd made his pitch to return, saying the party was heading for a catastrophic defeat if nothing was done. After her press conference, she went to tender her resignation to the head of state and Queens' representative in Australia, the governor general.
The day of high drama began when supporters of Rudd, who had advocated his return to the leadership for the past three years of the hung parliament, began circulating a petition to try to force a contest in this, the last sitting week of parliament before the September election.
Within hours, Gillard went on the attack and made the decision to hold a snap vote on her position. "It is in the best interest of the nation and the Labor party for this to be resolved," she said. "This is it. There are no more opportunities, tonight's the night."
Wednesday's change of leader follows months of speculation, during which Gillard made clear she would not stand down despite opinion polls that repeatedly showed Rudd to be the more popular leader.
With the party's support dwindling to about 30%, and the prospect of Labor losing at least half of its parliamentary seats, she stood firm while Rudd's backers plotted.
Once Gillard called the leadership ballot, the third time she had agreed to contest her position in as many years, Rudd made his pitch to return, saying Labor was heading for a catastrophic defeat if nothing was done.
It was a U-turn from his position two months earlier when he declared there was no circumstance under which he would return to the party's leadership. Rudd said he had changed his mind, because of "tens and thousands of ordinary Australians, who have been asking me to do this for a very long time. This has now become urgent. I therefore believe with all my heart that I owe it to offer the people of Australia a viable alternative."It was a U-turn from his position two months earlier when he declared there was no circumstance under which he would return to the party's leadership. Rudd said he had changed his mind, because of "tens and thousands of ordinary Australians, who have been asking me to do this for a very long time. This has now become urgent. I therefore believe with all my heart that I owe it to offer the people of Australia a viable alternative."
The ballot looked very close until 15 minutes before the vote when one of Gillard's key backers, Bill Shorten, who had helped put her in the top job, changed sides. "The future of this nation and the Labor party is at stake, therefore I shall be supporting Kevin Rudd tonight," he said. The ballot looked very close until 15 minutes before the vote when one of Gillard's key backers, Bill Shorten, who had helped her to the top job, changed sides. "The future of this nation and the Labor party is at stake, therefore I shall be supporting Kevin Rudd tonight," he said.
It is unclear what will happen now. For Rudd to be sworn in, Gillard must recommend this course of action to the country's governor general, the Queen's representative in Australia and head of state. Assuming that this will happen, Rudd may then face confidence vote in parliament on Thursday, the last sitting day before the election on 14 September. It is not certain he would win this vote, as independent MPs who have kept Gillard's minority government in power have not guaranteed their continued support. It is unclear what will happen now. The governor general may swear Rudd in as prime minister or could ask him to test his numbers on the floor of the house of parliament with a no-confidence motion on Thursday, the last sitting day before the election on 14 September. It is not certain he would win this vote, as independent MPs who have kept Gillard's minority government in power have not guaranteed their continued support.
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