page_title: Rudd Government (2007–2010)
section_title: Gillard replaces Rudd as Labor leader
hierarchical_section_title: Rudd Government (2007–2010) / Gillard replaces Rudd as Labor leader
caption_attribution_description: English: Kevin Rudd (right) and Julia Gillard (left) at their first press conference as leader and deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party on 4 December 2006.Français&#160;: Kevin Rudd (à droite) et Julia Gillard (à gauche) à leur premier conférence de presse en tant que leader et député du parti travailliste australien le 4 décembre 2006.
context_page_description: The Rudd Government (2007–2010) was the former government of Australia formed by the Australian Labor Party and led by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry. This took place just nine days after the defeat of the Howard Government, which was a Coalition of members of the Liberal and National parties, at the 2007 federal election. The Rudd Government concluded on 24 June 2010 when Rudd, under pressure from an impending leadership caucus ballot, stepped down from the leadership of the Australian Labor Party and was succeeded by his deputy, Julia Gillard. Rudd was re-elected leader of the Labor Party in 2013 and served a second term as prime minister.
context_section_description: After an initial period of popularity, by mid-2009, following the failure of the Governments' home insulation program and amidst controversy regarding the implementation of a tax on mining, the failure of the government to secure passage of its Carbon Trading Scheme and some debate about immigration policy, significant disaffection had arisen within the Labor Party as to the leadership style and direction of Rudd. According to ABC TV's The 7.30 Report, the seeds for a push for Gillard to challenge Rudd came from "Victorian Right factional heavyweights" Bill Shorten and Senator David Feeney, who secured the support of "New South Wales right power broker" Mark Arbib. Feeney and Arbib went to discuss the matter of leadership challenge with Gillard on the morning of 23 June and a final numbers count began for a leadership challenge.
  As late as May 2010, prior to challenging Rudd, Gillard was relaying to the media that "There's more chance of me becoming the full-forward for the Dogs than there is of any change in the Labor Party". Gillard's move against Rudd on 23 June appeared to surprise many Labor backbenchers. Daryl Melham when asked by a reporter on the night of the challenge if indeed a challenge was on, replied: "Complete garbage. ABC has lost all credibility." As he was being deposed, Rudd suggested that his opponents wanted to move Labor to the right, saying on 23 June: "This party and government will not be lurching to the right on the question of asylum seekers, as some have counseled us to do."
  The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 24 June that the final catalyst for Gillard's move was Rudd's staff probing the backbench for support in the wake of a Herald/Nielsen poll that showed Rudd would lose an election, an action seen as "a sign that he did not trust the repeated assurances by Ms Gillard that she would not stand". Following their departures from Parliament, Rudd's finance minister Lindsay Tanner (who resigned following Gillard's successful challenge to Rudd) and 2007–2010 Labor Member for Bennelong Maxine McKew sharply criticised the move against Rudd as an "ambush". In her 2012 book Tales From The Political Trenches, McKew wrote that Gillard was a "disloyal" and "impatient" deputy who was heavily involved in a well-planned operation to remove Rudd from the prime ministership. 
  On 23 June 2010, Rudd called a press conference announcing that a leadership ballot of the Australian Labor Party would occur on the morning of 24 June, with the candidates being himself and Deputy Prime Minister Gillard. This followed weeks of speculation that senior members of Labor were beginning to lose confidence in Rudd and would back Gillard in replacing him.  By the eve of the election, it was obvious that Rudd lacked support to remain Labor leader and prime minister. Rudd withdrew his candidacy and resigned as party leader, leaving Gillard to take the leadership unopposed. Gillard was then sworn in as Australia's 27th Prime Minister by Governor-General Quentin Bryce, and became Australia's first female Prime Minister on 24 June 2010, with Treasurer Wayne Swan appointed as Deputy Prime Minister.
  In the aftermath of this leadership challenge, Shorten, a former trade union leader and key Parliamentary member of the Labor Right Faction, proposed that the shift in support was due to the government's handling of the home insulation program, the sudden announcement of change of policy on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, and the way in which the government had "introduced the debate" about the Resource Super Profits Tax.
  Rudd conducted an emotional last press conference surrounded by family outside the prime minister's office on 23 June. He said that his economic management, removal of Workchoices, commencement of the National Broadband Network, education, health, welfare, environment, foreign and indigenous policies made him proud. He broke down when discussing the Stolen Generation apology. Rudd thanked supporters and the "great God and Creator" and promised to support the Gillard Government. 
  In her first press conference as
caption: Julia Gillard with then opposition leader Kevin Rudd in 2006. Gillard became prime minister by challenging Kevin Rudd's leadership of the Australian Labor Party in 2010.
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