Gillard is new Prime Minister

24 Jun 2010, 11:08 am   -   Source: SBS Staff, AAP
31 Comments
Share This
+ Comment
31

Kevin Rudd has stepped aside as Prime Minister to allow Julia Gillard into the top job, avoiding a messy battle to stay on.

RELATED

Kevin Rudd has stepped down, making Julia Gillard the 27th Prime Minister of Australia.

She told reporters that she was honoured to be in the top job.

Wayne Swan is the new Deputy Prime Minister after the pair were elected by the Labor caucus unopposed.

At ten to ten, Gillard was filmed leaving the meeting, saying there would be a full statement shortly.

After the bloodless coup, Kevin Rudd left the meeting with Defence Minister and ALP veteran John Faulkner at his side.

He later gave an emotional speech.

Small Business Minister Craig Emerson, who had supported Rudd, said the party would get behind her as one.

"Julia Gillard is prime minister and we will all completely and fully support her," he told reporters.

Victorian Premier John Brumby backed Gillard on Sky News.

"I think she'll be a fantastic Prime Minister...I look forward very much to working with herr", she said.

Senior Labor figures earlier said that more than 70 of 112 votes in the Labor caucus would go to Gillard in her bid to defeat Kevin Rudd.

But in the end, the vote was not needed, with Rudd stepping aside.

Ministers split ways

At 9am, Gillard was filmed arriving for the spill, on the verge of being the country's first female Prime Minister after last night telling Rudd she wanted to challenge him.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett  was also quoted complimenting Gillard, despite originally backing Rudd.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was rumoured to be backing Gillard, while Climate Change Minister Penny Wong was said to also be behind the current Deputy.

Karen Middleton said that MP Jim Turnour, whose seat is under threat, was sticking with Rudd.

Small Business Minister Craig Emerson also threw a rare portfolio behind the PM.

Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner was not involved - and he will reportedly not be moving into the Treasury as he may have hoped, a possible result of professional ill-feeling between himself and Gillard.

Instead, Swan is tipped to keep hold of the portfolio. Sky News reported that he will be travelling to the G20 meeting in Toronto in place of Gillard tomorrow.

Swan's defection to the Gillard camp comes despite backing Rudd to stay on as early as the start of last week.

Unions behind the scene

Analysts say the problem for Gillard may be that the unions were so heavily involved in her running, with the Victorian right urging her to act.

Yesterday, powerful AWU boss Bill Ludwig told the ABC Mr Rudd is "toxic", signalling strong Union support for Gillard.

"We have a better chance of holding government with Julia Gillard that we would have with Rudd," Mr Ludwig said.

Former Premier Peter Beattie backed Ms Gillard, telling the ABC "she is a very talented woman".

Transport Union boss Hughie Williams predicted Ms Gillard would prevail.

"It's quite obvious they have the numbers. We'll have a new prime minister of Australia," Mr Williams said.

But crucially, Gillard also had the support of the right.

And at the core of the challenge is Kevin Rudd's famously poor support base within his party.

A recent Essential poll found the Liberal Party may have a tough time with Gillard, who has made strong ground amongst voters.

Opposition grumble on sidelines

Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce said the overnight coup attempt against Mr Rudd has been engineered by factional leaders who have taken over the running of the country.

"It is running on auto-pilot in the face of faceless people and faceless men who (were) never elected," Senator Joyce said.

"We're basically realising that the whole direction and metaphor of this government was flawed and we're off to - gosh only knows."

Wilson Tuckey reiterated that the speed of the challenge shows the power of the unions within the Labor Party.
 

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Your Comments

Display: 20 | 40 | All comments per page
Previous 10 | Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next 10

Democracy?

Ray R - from Holidays in Canary, 2 years ago

The recient events over a profit tax shows who controls this country. It's certainly not the people. It is very clearly the cashed up companies. With gillard at the helm the country has now gone way down the drain. Gillard was the minister overseeing Comcare Australia, it is a total disaster of incompetents. In a democracy we must have ballanced information from the "news" but unfortunatly money and self interest controls it. how do we make an informed decission with such bias.

sorry for Rudd

Aim - from sydney, 2 years ago

Never vote for female PM ...

Ripping the Velvet

Tom - from Sydney, 2 years ago

I did not vote for K Rudd, never been a fan of his "cat that swallowed the canary" style. But I did vote Labour and was thrilled with the choice of Julia G as deputy, wondering why she wasnt put up for the top job even then. Perhaps perceived as too radical of a choice considering australia's conservative pall. A smart, contemporary no nonsense woman with, as the last 24 hrs has shown, more ballz than many of her male colleagues. Good on you Julia G. Lapdog or Bulldog? my moneys on the latter

Gillard, you'll never get my vote!

Mr. W - from WA Perth, 2 years ago

Gillard will never get my vote "period". She saw an opportunity comming and took advantage! I am a uni student just like many other and a person who has to work on the side to get by, just like many other; thanks to rudd, I did not loos my job through the recession like how many of my friends did over in Canada and US. I think Rudd did pretty well and I dont care if I have to vote for greens (will never for abbott) but it will not be Gillard.

Goodbye mining tax

Skeptic - from Adelaide, 2 years ago

This is the mining barons getting out of the mining tax. I for one am not looking forward to making up the gap.

A smart move, looking forward...

Sam - from Canberra, 2 years ago

Firstly, let me say that I am a Labor supporter. But lets look at the facts here. Everyone is saying that Rudd was a good PM, are these the same people that were shunning him on the popularity vote? Secondly, there were extensive discussions between Rudd and Gillard last night - does noone think that this is perhaps in informed (and yes! INTELLIGENT) move? It is the cleanest way to ammend the recent, not so successful decisions of the Government WITHOUT backflipping on policy.

A 'Clayton' democracy

Robert - from Geelong, 2 years ago

If the public's comments are a shadow of the next election, then Labour has just literally butchered its way into electoral oblivion for the next few years. Where is Graham Richardson? Perhaps he can explain it all for us!

So...disappointing

Chaos - from NZ, 2 years ago

At Ahmad. New Zealand had a female Prime Minister for years and she, Helen Clark, was the best PM we ever had. Kevin Rudd was a fairly good Prime Minister. I voted him in, and, if I still lived in Aus, I'd re-elect him. Honestly, who else can you have? Julia Gillard? Tony Abbot? Come on, we need a strong cabinet, not traitorous backstabbers. Kevin Rudds views on the Muslim Shariah got worldwide publicity, and, for the most part, it was loved. Come on Kevin, don't leave.We need you more than ever

Disgusted voters

Michael - from Sydney, 2 years ago

I always have thought that communist rule is the evil way. Now the union coupled with their corrupt power brokers and their self indulgents ways compared favourably to the evil way. I thought I voted for Kevin,

interesting times

ahmad - from melbourne, 2 years ago

i am a recent citizen and becoming familiar with the politics here, i have realised that it is no different from any other democracy/dictator/ communist setup. Power is king.i was absolutely charmed by the way Kevin Rudd handled post 2007 issues; despite me coming in this country due to liberal immigration policy, i was going to vote labor; guess what 180 degree turn from me. Lets see what a female PM shapes things now, bear in mind that US and major superpowers never had female in power.

Display: 20 | 40 | All comments per page
Previous 10 | Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next 10

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.