CANBERRA, Australia — Australia got its first female prime minister today after the ruling party dumped Kevin Rudd and installed his deputy as leader. Julia Gillard will lead the government to elections due within months.
She stood unopposed at a vote of the Labor Party’s 112 lawmakers at a meeting today, hours after a revolt against Rudd.
Rudd didn’t even stand for reappointment in the vote — a signal that he knew his support had collapsed. He had ridden high in opinion polls as one of the most popular Australian prime ministers of modern times until he made major policy back flips, including a decision in April to shelve plans to make Australia’s worst polluters pay for their carbon emissions.
The leadership change is unlikely to alter Australia’s key policy positions, such as its troop commitment to the war in Afghanistan.
The Associated Press
