Australia’s Julia Gillard Resigns as Prime Minister after Leadership Ballot Loss

The Australian Labor Party voted Prime Minister Julia Gillard out if its leadership prompting her to hand over her resignation. Acting as de facto prime minister is Kevin Rudd, Gillard’s rival and the new ALP party leader after winning the ballot. The vote was 57-45 in favor of former Prime Minister Rudd. Gillard called for a leadership ballot of Labor party MPs after months of grueling inner-party conflicts.

Once Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce, the Queen’s representative in Australia approves his appointment, Australia’s new prime minister will be sworn to office in a matter of hours. Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is the head of state of Australia.

Leadership challenges then and now

Kevin Rudd was elected as prime minister in 2007. Three years later in 2010 his leadership was challenged by Julia Gillard. Rudd stated that he is returning to office with honor, humility, and “an important sense of energy and purpose.” He also said that he intends to achieve his goals and that it is time to put a stop to the “negative politics” that is holding Australia back.

In September, Australia will hold its general election. The ALP is confident the Rudd, who is quite popular with voters, will secure the party a win. Earlier, ALP members who backed Rudd’s leadership prepared a petition calling for the new PM to challenge Gillard. Rudd was initially not keen on the idea.

Rudd expressed admiration to Gillard whose remarkable achievements in reforms demonstrated her qualities of “extraordinary intelligence” as well as energy and strength. He stressed that he does not intend to use the seat of power against rivals within the party, and that he is fully dedicated to uniting the ALP, citing paybacks and retributions are pointless. “It’s old politics,” he insisted.

“Truly humbling”

In a press conference, the newly resigned Julia Gillard expressed gratitude to the ALP and the people of Australia for the opportunity to lead her country. “The privilege was truly humbling,” she said. She also thanked party members who voted for her in 2010 and for the opportunity to become the first ever woman to serve as prime minister of Australia.

Gillard stated that she has already written to the governor-general, with the message including the ballot result and a request to commission Kevin Rudd as prime minister. She also clarified that she has no intention of seeking for a constituency seat in the general election in September, saying that the winner gets to be the Labor leader while the loser retires from politics.

Showdown consequences

The leadership showdown led to three resignations from government ministers earlier in the week, namely Chris Bowen, Kim Carr, and Martin Ferguson. Before the vote, Gillard sacked senior minister Simon Crean while Rudd supporter junior minister Richard Marles resigned as well.

After the vote and Gillard’s defeat, Climate Change, Industry and Innovation Minister Greg Combet resigned. Cabinet member Wayne Swan (Treasurer) also forwarded his resignation along with School Education Minister Peter Garrett. Joe Ludwig (Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry) and Craig Emerson (Trade and Competitiveness) also resigned from their posts as ministers. Those who chose to vacate their posts after the ballots were counted are staunch supporters of Gillard.

Photo Credit: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard