Australian Prime Minister Leadership Challenge

Julia Gillard had served as Deputy of the Australian Labor Party since the 4th of December 2006, when she challenged for the Deputy Leadership of the ALP in a cross-faction move with Kevin Rudd who also was elected to the office of opposition leader. The pair quickly dominated politics with their strong performances in the House of Representatives and their incredible campaigning ability.


Frictions began to show when it was leaked to the media that Prime Minister Rudd after a series of bad polling had been lobbying MP's to see the numbers of support that Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard had in the caucus. On the 24th of June 2010, Kevin Rudd called a spill for the leadership and deputy leadership of the Australian Labor Party. Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan were elected leader and deputy leader unopposed, with Kevin Rudd withdrawing from the race. Julia Gillard then became the first female Prime Minister of Australia.

The 2010 election followed not long after, and all polling indicated that the Australian Labor Party would have a solid election victory with a reasonable majority in the House of Representatives. A series of leaks followed that seriously damaged the ALP's standing in the electorate, as Kevin Rudd and his supporters continued to destabilize the Labor Party and the Prime Minister. The election resulted in a hung parliament, and Julia Gillard was able to reach an agreement with the independents and minor parties in order to form government, and Kevin Rudd was appointed to the position of Foreign Minister.


Another leadership spill was held on the 27th of February 2012 after increased leadership speculation. Kevin Rudd announced his intention to challenge the leadership, and Gillard was solidly reelected 71-31, and Kevin Rudd was subsequently removed from office.


On the 21 of March 2013, Gillard mentor and senior Minister/Former leader of the Party Simon Crean asked the Prime Minister to call a leadership spill. She agreed, and Kevin Rudd said that he would not challenge for the leadership, and Julia Gillard was once again reelected unopposed.

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has already announced that an election will be held in September. With increased leadership speculation in the media and even on the ABC and SBS (Government funded channels) the Prime Minister has once again called on a leadership spill and a secret ballot vote will occur in approximately 2 hours time.

This is unprecedented in Australian history, and the increasing political instability has led to a lot of political apathy and annoyance at the government as well as the desire for an election to occur as soon as possible. The Prime Minister has said that if she loses the vote she will immediately resign from parliament and politics, and requests that Kevin Rudd agree to do so as well, who has since agreed to do so.. Kevin Rudd has since agreed to stand for the leadership and confirmed that he will support the 7pm ballot.

All of this is very frustrating to core ALP supporters who see this leadership tension as simply playing directly into the opposition leaders hands, who is characterized as a sexist, racist, right-wing conservative who many people fear becoming Prime Minister of this country.

I am a Julia Gillard supporter. The government was stagnant and stale when she took over and gave it direction, and despite the unified media opposition (due to the media being owned by mining barons and other corporations) she has continued to work for the future of this country.


It is unclear what will happen if the Prime Ministership does change. Two prominent independents have already announced that they will not support Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister, and another has said that he is still unsure at this stage. The Opposition would not move a no confidence motion as they wish to win the election and not to take the position before that. It may be necessary for the Governor-General to exercise her reserve powers and to intervene forcing an immediate election, if she cannot be convinced of who commands the majority of the House of Representatives.

This has not occurred since 1975, which was one of the most dramatic and controversial political events in the history of Australia. This event resulted in riots and threats against the life of the Governor-General, as well as the perception by some members of the community that it was an illegitimate coup. The phrase: "May we say God Save the Queen, because nothing will save the Governor-General" is well known by Australians.

Interesting times ahead, and it seems as though the government stands little chance at winning the election. Meanwhile I will remain frustrated at the lack of policy debate in this country, and increasingly disappointed with the ALP.

[Can I post here? If not I'll delete this and go on my merry way ]

As a young Australian (this election will be my first being able to vote), I'm greatly saddened by our current state of politics, and the media's representation of it. We're ~3 months out from an election, and as far as I'm aware, there has been no policy talk at all, from either party. Instead it's endless waves of leadership challenges/speculation, which is both boring as buggerery and not helpful for voters. As I see it the media missed the June 2010 leadership vote, and so have attempted to generate further leadership changes that they can actually cover .


Personally, I'm backing Penny Wong, but we can't even get a referendum to legalise gay marriage, let alone having an openly gay Prime Minister .

Of course you can post here

Penny Wong would be a brilliant leader in my opinion. I agree with you on the points raised, though I believe the media issues is due to Rupert Murdoch and Gina Rinehearts control of most of the major media.

Kevin Rudd has been elected Prime Minister 57 votes to 45. Disappointing They are still reviewing the deputy position right now.

Wayne Swan (Deputy PM and Treasurer), has resigned and Anthony Albanese the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure has replaced him in that position.

Craig Emerson, Stephen Conroy and Joe Ludwig have resigned. Penny Wong has been elected Leader of the Government in the Senate and is the first asian and LGBT person to serve in said position. More changes and statements are expected to follow.

I hope LGBT rights can be expanded in Australia. Doubtless Rupert Murdoch (who owns a good chunk of American media as well) will be for the corporate interests and everyone else be damned.

There's been a definite dynamic shift with Rudd in charge now.....Abbott actually did an interview

How easy people forget what Rudd was like, and that when he was a Prime Minister he was a staunch Catholic and anti-gay marriage.

I heard that the Conservatives are ahead in the polls. Politics in Australia are surprisingly similar to Canada.

Well, there is that shared history the two countries have. Fighting under the same banner for hundreds of years will do that.

schweizweld:

I heard that the Conservatives are ahead in the polls. Politics in Australia are surprisingly similar to Canada.

Click to expand...

And, ironically, the terms "conservative" and "Liberal" do not transliterate to the same terms in US politics.

True. The Liberal Democratic Party in Japan is actually the "conservative" party by U.S. definition. A liberal democratic republic is essentially one that embraces the fundamental tenets of liberalism as defined by John Locke.

The Liberal Party in Australia is our conservative party.