Tony Abbott: Australia's pugnacious new prime minister - CNN.com Tony Abbott: Australia's pugnacious new prime minister By Peter Shadbolt, CNN Updated 8:46 PM ET, Sat September 7, 2013 Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. JUST WATCHED Victory for Abbott in Australia 02:44 Story highlights Tony Abbott, next Australian prime minister, is well known for his pugnacious style His gaffe-prone campaign has nevertheless been popular with Australian electorate Deflecting accusations of sexism, Abbott has presented himself as unreconstructed male Socially conservative politician is known to hold complex views in some areas of policy The pugnacious style of Tony Abbott, the winner of Australia's election, has played well with the electorate. He may have run a gaffe-prone campaign against the bookish Kevin Rudd, the incumbent Labor prime minister, but his knockabout style, which harkens back to older, safer times, proved popular with an electorate exhausted by years of Labor infighting.

Having successfully deflected accusations of sexism -- dismissing a campaign gaffe in which he lauded a Liberal female candidate for her "sex appeal" as a "dad moment" -- Abbott has presented himself as an unreconstructed male who loves his sport and beer. In Australia's current social climate, which some have attacked for being increasingly insular, self-absorbed and xenophobic, Abbott's bruising confrontational style has hit a rich seam. Politics might be a tough profession, but in few places is it as bruising as in Australia where mudslinging and name-calling occur on an almost daily basis. JUST WATCHED Assange runs for Australian senate 02:01 Some exchanges in Australian parliament are almost the stuff of folk legend. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating (1991-96), when pressed to name an election date, told the leader of the opposition he wouldn't reveal the date because, "I want to do you slowly." More recently, the former Australian leader recently ousted Rudd, Julia Gillard gave the opposition a spirited lecture in sexism that went viral and even drew praise from U.S. President Barack Obama.

But not since leader of the Labor opposition Mark Latham broke a taxi driver's arm in a dispute over a cab fare in 2001 have Australians had the chance to elect a real brawler as premier. Latham's bid for prime minister failed, but in Abbott, the leader of the Liberal-National Coalition, the country may have found a natural successor. Combative in debate and with the media, Abbott may have shown little of his predecessors' verbal flair -- recent gaffes had him talking about the "suppository," rather than the repository, "of all wisdom" -- but he has displayed the kind of dogged aggression that Australians like to see in their sportsmen. The boxer A former Rhodes Scholar who won an Oxford Blue in boxing, he allegedly punched the wall either side of the head of a female political rival during his student days in the 1970s. Abbott claims the incident "never happened." For one former alumni from his Jesuit secondary school St. Ignatius' College, Riverview, in Sydney, the episode would not have been out of character.

"All I remember is his rictus grin and the rolled-up sleeves of his short-sleeved shirt, giving his biceps something to rub up against," the former classmate, who now works in the Hong Kong banking industry, told CNN. "What struck me was the raw emotion he could elicit just by being him. You could pour an enormous bucket on him, and he was not only impervious in terms of being hurt but would grin back at you and give it back -- with compound interest and probably a compound fracture," he added. While Abbott is a polarizing figure to the electorate, the socially conservative politician is known to hold complex views in some areas of policy. He has been known to defend areas of Medicare -- the country's national health system normally championed by the Labor Party -- and even opposed his own party on industrial relations reform, arguing that it was too harsh on workers. Early beginnings Born in England in 1957 to an Australian mother and an English-born father, he graduated in economics and law from Sydney University where he became involved in the rough and tumble world of student politics.

Avowedly right-wing at a time when the prevailing orthodoxy on campuses was deeply left-wing, Abbott, according to one of his biographers Michael Duffy, was beaten up at a student conference. Briefly training as a Catholic priest before working variously as a concrete contractor and as a journalist for The Australian newspaper, he entered politics in 1994 when he was elected to represent the affluent Warringah district of Sydney. Under former Prime Minister John Howard's government, he served as an employment minister between 1998 and 2001, and as minister for health and aging in 2003. In 2009, he narrowly beat then leader Malcolm Turnbull in a party leadership vote, winning 42 votes to Turnbull's 41. He also polled well in Australia's 2010 general election, which was called following Gillard's ouster of Rudd as prime minister, denying the government a majority and delivering a hung parliament that Gillard's government could only hold together with the support of independents. Labor Party infighting boosted Abbott's standing in the polls and -- under Gillard -- the Labor Party faced certain defeat at elections this year.

While the installation of Rudd as prime minister for a second time has clawed back some of the ground Labor lost under Gillard, many analysts say his arrival has come too late to save the Australian Labor Party. Catholic values, populist instincts Abbott supports lower taxes, smaller government and tough border controls and backs the government's policy of processing asylum seekers -- many of them illegal boat arrivals -- offshore. He recently announced that almost 32,00 asylum seekers who already in Australia will never be granted permanent settlement . He has also pushed a "tow-back" policy that would see asylum seekers' boats turned around when it is safe to do so. Dismissing the climate debate as faddish and fashionable, Abbott has vowed to roll back the controversial carbon tax put in place by Gillard, which he has condemned as "socialism masquerading as environmentalism." He has pledged to get rid of the 30% mining tax introduced by Labor, saying that it is a serious disincentive to investment in Australia's booming commodities sector. READ MORE: How Australia's prime ministerial candidates view China On social issues, he has remained true to his Catholic faith, consistently voting against relaxing abortion laws, same-sex marriage and stem cell research.

He has stated that he wants abortions to be "safe, legal and rare." As health minister in 2005, he opposed the use of the abortion drug RU486, but it was later overturned by parliament. Australian journalist David Marr, author of Abbott's latest biography "The Making of Tony Abbott," says the leading contender to become Australia's next prime minister is nothing if not the sum total of his contradictions. "He is a highly successful, aggressive, populist politician but all throughout his career he has argued there is another side to him -- that there is a deep commitment to values -- and they are very traditional Catholic values," he told ABC's Question Time. However, he added that while his values informed his political views, he was able to shift and adapt them to prevailing political reality. "There's no occasion in his political career where those values have stood in the way of his politics. When it comes down to it, Tony Abbott is an absolutely secular politician." Muslims Out of Australia! : snopes.com Muslims Out of Australia! Claim: Article compiles statements from Australian government officials about Sharia law and Muslim extremists. MIXTURE [Collected via e-mail, 2005] Muslims Out of Australia!

CANBERRA AUSTRALIA: Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that australia was a secular state and its laws were made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you," he said on national television. "I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another the Islamic law, that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to other country which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option," Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off". "Basically, people who don't want to be Australians, and they don't want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then they can basically clear off," he said. Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Variations: A January 2008 variant combined elements of this piece with a 2001 editorial about immigrants written by a U.S. Air Force veteran, creating the misleading impression that the hybrid version reflected a speech given by Australian prime minister John Howard. A February 2009 variant attributed the entire combined version to Kevin Rudd, who succeeded John Howard as Australia's prime minister in 2007, and a 2010 variant attributed elements of both to Julia Gillard, who succeeded Kevin Rudd in June 2010.

Origins: The July 2005 London Tube bombings raised domestic terrorism concerns in countries with large immigrant Muslim populations, such as Australia. The following month, Australian prime minister John Howard held a two-hour summit with moderate Muslim leaders in Canberra to work on a national strategy for addressing intolerance and the promotion of violence, during which issues such as the curriculum of Islamic schools and suggested measures for vetting imams were discussed. The Christian Science Monitor noted of the event: As other governments have found, however, deciding who represents the Muslim community can be a delicate matter. Large sections of the youth, as well as conservative and more critical clerics, have been left out of Howard's summit — meaning some of the government's more aggressive proposals may meet resistance. But the groups who attended the meeting hailed it as a successful first step in an ongoing dialogue. "We determined along with the prime minister that there must be more communication between the government and Islamic schools where it comes to teaching common values like democracy, fairness, tolerance and so on, and radicals will be reacted to, whenever they make inflammatory remarks," says Ali Roude, the acting president of the New South Wales Islamic Council.

"It's much worse for us now, because 7/7 showed the world that the enemy is to be found within" instead of 9/11 when the terrorists were all foreigners [said the spokesperson for Lebanese Muslims in Australia]. "Now they are suspicious of all of us, and it's very serious, but the prime minister is only playing politics." But some Muslims here have a growing sense that they are being defined within the media by the voices of the extremists, and that an intervention by the government and moderate Muslims to counter such elements would be useful. "So far it was OK to do your own thing. But if the media is focusing on the extreme elements, we need to do something about it," says Chabaan Omran, a senior member of the Federation of Australian Students and Youth, an organization that gives religious advice and teaching to young people. "Muslims need to interact more with mainstream Australia." This might sit well with recent calls from ordinary Australians asking Muslims to assimilate. But Mr.

Omran is worried about the connotations of the word "assimilate," and talks more of "positive integration without undermining our religion." Prime Minister Howard also publicly announced his intent to have Australian intelligence agencies target mosques and Islamic schools in an effort to "stamp out homegrown terrorism and extremists": Prime Minister John Howard said on top of trying to promote Australian values in Islamic schools, the Government would monitor what was said in certain schools and mosques to ensure they did not foster terrorism. Asked whether he was prepared to "get inside" mosques and schools to ensure there was no support for terrorism, Mr Howard was blunt. "Yes, to the extent necessary," Mr Howard told Southern Cross radio. "I have no desire and nor is it the Government's intention to interfere in any way with the freedom or practice of religion.

"We have a right to know whether there is, within any section of the Islamic community, a preaching of the virtues of terrorism, whether any comfort or harbour is given to terrorism within that community." The issue of the integration of Muslims into Australian society prompted controversial remarks by some Australian cabinet ministers, such as this exchange between Treasurer Peter Costello and host Tony Jones on the Lateline television news program on 23 August 2005: TONY JONES: Now, over the past 24 hours you've been repeating the notion that migrants, evidently Islamic migrants, who don't like Australia, or Australian values, should think of packing up and moving to another country. Is that a fair assessment? PETER COSTELLO: What I've said is that this is a country, which is founded on a democracy. According to our Constitution, we have a secular state. Our laws are made by the Australian Parliament. If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you.

This is not the kind of country where you would feel comfortable if you were opposed to democracy, parliamentary law, independent courts and so I would say to people who don't feel comfortable with those values there might be other countries where they'd feel more comfortable with their own values or beliefs. TONY JONES: It sounds like you're inviting Muslims who don't want to integrate to go to another country. Is it as simple as that? PETER COSTELLO: No. I'm saying if you are thinking of coming to Australia, you ought to know what Australian values are. TONY JONES: But what about if you're already here and you don't want to integrate? PETER COSTELLO: Well, I'll come to that in a moment. But there are some clerics who have been quoted as saying they recognise two laws. They recognise Australian law and Sharia law. There's only one law in Australia, it's the Australian law. For those coming to Australia, I think we ought to be very clear about that. We expect them to recognise only one law and to observe it. Now, for those who are born in Australia, I'd make the same point. This is a country which has a Constitution.

Under its Constitution, the state is secular. Under its constitution, the law is made by the parliament. Under its Constitution, it's enforced by the judiciary. These are Australian values and they're not going to change and we would expect people, when they come to Australia or if they are born in Australia, to respect those values. TONY JONES: I take it that if you're a dual citizen and you have the opportunity to leave and you don't like Australian values, you're encouraging them to go away; is that right? PETER COSTELLO: Well, if you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country which practises it, perhaps then that's a better option. TONY JONES: But isn't this the sort of thing you hear in pubs, the meaningless populism you hear on talkback radio? Essentially, the argument is if you don't like it here, you should go back home. PETER COSTELLO: No. Essentially, the argument is Australia expects its citizens to abide by core beliefs — democracy, the rule of law, the independent judiciary, independent liberty.

You see, Tony, when you come to Australia and you go to take out Australian citizenship you either swear on oath or make an affirmation that you respect Australia's democracy and its values. That's what we ask of people that come to Australia and if they don't, then it's very clear that this is not the country — if they can't live with them — whose values they can't share. Well, there might be another country where their values can be shared. TONY JONES: Who exactly are you aiming this at? Are you aiming it at young Muslims who don't want to integrate or are you aiming it at clerics like Sheikh Omran or Abu Bakr both from Melbourne? PETER COSTELLO: I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another the Islamic law, that that is false. It's not the situation in Australia. It's not the situation under our Constitution. There's only one law in Australia. It's the law that's made by the Parliament of Australia and enforced by our courts. There's no second law. There's only one law that applies in Australia and Australia expects its citizens to observe it. Likewise, Education minister Dr.

Brendan Nelson offered his opinion that those who do not accept and teach Australian values should leave the country: Dr Nelson says those who do not accept and teach Australian values should "clear off". One of the recommendations at Prime Minister John Howard's terrorism summit was for Islamic schools to be encouraged to denounce extremism and teach about Australian traditions and culture. The Minister says it is important for all groups to be integrated into the Australian community, whatever their religion. "If you want to be an Australian, if you want to raise your children in Australia, we fully expect those children to be taught and to accept Australian values and beliefs," he said. "We want them to understand our history and our culture, the extent to which we believe in mateship and giving another person a fair go, and basically if people don't want to support and accept and adopt and teach Australian values then, they should clear off." The individual statements attributed to Australian government officials included in the e-mail reproduced at the head of this page are thus essentially accurate, but the selectively-quoted excerpts of controversial material from different news stories create the misleading overall impression that Australia enacted a formal policy to force some Muslim groups out of the country.

The statements quoted were part of the public debate over an issue that flared briefly in the immediate aftermath of the London Tube bombings, then quietly subsided. Subsequent versions of this item have been altered to replace the names of out-of-office politicians with their modern counterparts (e.g., Kevin Rudd for John Howard, Julia Gillard for Kevin Rudd), thereby attributing words and thoughts to people who did not express them. Last updated: 4 January 2013 Sources: PM, Premiers, Chief Ministers & Opposition Leaders in Australia | AustralianPolitics.com Chronology 2016 Oct 25, 2016: Alistair Coe became leader of the ACT Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition, replacing Jeremy Hanson. Nicole Lawder was chosen as deputy leader. The Liberal Party was defeated at the October 15, 2016 election, winning 11 of the 25 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The ALP-Greens coalition government, led by Andrew Barr, was re-elected, with the ALP winning 12 seats and the Greens 2.

Sep 20, 2016: Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett survived a spill motion at a meeting of Liberal Party members. The motion, brought on by the ministerial resignations of Dean Nalder and Tony Simpson, was defeated by 31 votes to 15. Sep 02, 2016: Gary Higgins, 62, the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly member for Daly, became leader of the Country Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition. The CLP was massively defeated in the August 27 election, winning just two of the 25 seats in the single-chamber parliament. Lia Finocchairo, the member for Spillett became deputy leader. Whilst the CLP has fewer members than the five independents, the Solicitor-General advised that the CLP was the only group realistically able to form an alternative government. Chief Minister Michael Gunner committed himself to providing resources for the opposition, even though it has fallen below the number needed for official status. Aug 31, 2016: Michael Gunner, leader of the Northern Territory ALP, was sworn in as Chief Minister, replacing the CLP’s Adam Giles.

The change of government took place following the election of August 27. The ALP has won 15 seats, the CLP 2, Independents 3, with 5 seats undecided. On current trends, the ALP could finish with 18 seats, CLP 2, Independents 5. It is not yet clear who will form the Opposition or who the Opposition Leader will be. May 06, 2016: Tim Nicholls replaced Lawrence Springborg as the leader of the Queensland LNP and Leader of the Opposition. Nicholls was elected at a partyroom meeting called by Springborg to clear the air over leadership. Deb Frecklington was elected unopposed as deputy leader. In the first ballot for the leadership, Springborg received 17 votes, Nicholls 14 and Tim Mander 10. With Mander eliminated, Nicholls defeated Springborg 22-19. 2015 September 15, 2015: Tony Abbott delivered his final statement as prime minister at 12.40pm at Parliament House.

Malcolm Turnbull was sworn in as prime minister by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove at 1.33pm. September 14, 2015: Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced at 4pm that he had resigned from the Abbott ministry and was launching a leadership challenge. At 6.15pm, Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that a ballot for the Liberal Party leadership and deputy leadership would be held later in the evening. Abbott said he would recontest his position. Following the 9.15pm partyroom meeting, it was announced at 9.48pm that Malcolm Turnbull defeated Tony Abbott by 54 votes to 44, with one informal vote. Senator Michael Ronaldson then joined the partyroom for the vote on the deputy’s position. This was won by the incumbent, Julie Bishop, with 70 votes, defeating Kevin Andrews, on 30. May 6, 2015: Senator Christine Milne resigned as leader of the Australian Greens and signalled her intention to leave the Senate before the end of her term. Senator Richard di Natale was elected unopposed as the party’s new leader.

Senators Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam were elected unopposed as co-deputy leaders. April 19, 2015: Delia Lawrie announced her resignation as leader of the Northern Territory ALP, effective from April 20. In recent days, Lawrie has come under attack for her role in the gifting of the Stella Maris site to Unions NT by the former Labor government. On April 20, Michael Gunner was elected unopposed as ALP leader and Leader of the Opposition. February 14, 2015: Annastacia Palaszczuk was sworn in as Premier of Queensland, following the ALP’s victory in the January 31 election. Jackie Trad was sworn in as Deputy Premier and Curtis Pitt was sworn in as Treasurer. The three ministers will share all other portfolios until the full ministry is sworn in. The ALP Caucus will meet on February 15 to elect the ministry. February 13, 2015: The Queensland Electoral Commission declared the results of all 89 electorates in the January 31 election.

The ALP won 44 seats, the LNP 42, Katter’s Australian Party 2 and Independent 1. The independent member for Nicklin, Peter Wellington, has indicated he will support a minority Labor government. The ALP leader, Annastacia Palaszczuk, was commissioned as Premier at around 4pm. February 9, 2015: A meeting of the federal parliamentary Liberal Party took place to consider a motion to spill the leadership of the party. The motion, moved by Luke Simpkins and seconded by Don Randall, was defeated 69-31, with one member (Ross Vasta) on paternity leave and one member casting an informal vote. Tony Abbott was first elected Liberal leader in December 2009. As of this day, he had been prime minister for 510 days. February 7, 2015: Lawrence Springborg was elected leader of the Queensland Liberal National Party, the position he last held in 2011. John-Paul Langbroek, also a former leader, was elected deputy leader.

It appears increasingly likely that the ALP will form a minority government, in which case Springborg will become Leader of the Opposition. February 2, 2015: Willem Rudolf Westra van Holthe was elected leader of the Country Liberal Party, defeating Chief Minister Adam Giles, reportedly by a vote of 8-6. However, on February 3, Giles refused to resign and facilitate the swearing-in of van Holthe by the Territory Administrator. It was argued that it had not been established that van Holthe had a majority in the Legislative Assembly. Two former members of the CLP, who had defected to the Palmer United Party, were reported to have rejoined the CLP. Later in the day, it was announced that Giles would remain leader and van Holthe would become his deputy. January 31, 2015: The Liberal National Party government of Queensland appears to have lost the general election held on this day. Premier Campbell Newman lost his seat of Ashgrove and is now Acting Premier until the composition of the new government has been decided.

The ALP Opposition, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, has recovered from its historic 2012 defeat which saw it reduced to 7 seats in the 89-seat Legislative Assembly. Latest counting has the ALP on 43 seats. Palaszczuk is likely to form a minority government with the support of at least one of the crossbenchers. A majority Labor government is an outside possibility. January 5, 2015: Luke Foley became Leader of the Opposition in NSW, following his unopposed election as leader of the ALP. Foley, a member of the Legislative Council, is expected to be preselected for the seat of Auburn in the Legislative Assembly. 2014 December 23, 2014: NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson announced his resignation as leader of the ALP. The announcement followed the revelation that Robertson had written a letter on behalf of Man Haron Monis, the gunman who conducted the siege at Martin Place on December 15-16. Robertson’s deputy, Linda Burney, will act as leader, pending an ALP caucus election of a new leader at 11am on January 5, 2015.

December 11, 2014: Andrew Barr was elected Chief Minister of the ACT, following the resignation of Katy Gallagher. The Legislative Assembly voted 9-8 to elect Barr, defeating the Liberal leader, Jeremy Hanson. December 05, 2014: ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher announced that she would resign on December 10. Gallagher said she would seek endorsement for the Senate seat currently held by the ALP’s Kate Lundy, who confirmed she would retire on March 31, 2015. The ACT Labor Party opened preselections with a ballot to be held, if needed, around January 31. December 04, 2014: Daniels Andrews was sworn in as Premier of Victoria, along with his ministry. Matthew Guy became Leader of the Opposition, following his defeat of Michael O’Brien in the election for leader of the Liberal Party. November 29, 2014: Victoria’s Coalition government led by Denis Napthine was defeated at the state election. Napthine announced that he would resign the Liberal Party leadership.

September 1, 2014: Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles threw open his leadership at a CLP party-room meeting. He was re-elected unopposed. Peter Chandler was elected deputy leader to replace Dave Tollner, who resigned after making homophobic comments. April 16, 2014: NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell announced that he would resign, as a consequence of telling the Independent Commission Against Corruption that he could not recall receiving the gift of a $3000 bottle of wine from Nick Di Girolamo, the head of Australian Water Holdings, a company associated with Eddie Obeid. Di Girolamo tendered a thank-you note from O’Farrell to ICAC. The parliamentary Liberal Party met on April 17 and elected Mike Baird unopposed as leader and Gladys Berejiklian unopposed as deputy leader. Baird was sworn in as Premier at 6.17pm. March 15, 2014: Tasmania’s Labor government was defeated at the state elections. The Liberal Party won 15 seats, the ALP 7 and the Greens 3, a landslide result under the Hare-Clark proportional voting system.

Will Hodgman was sworn in as Tasmania’s first Liberal premier in 16 years at 2.34pm on March 31. On the same day, the ALP unanimously elected Bryan Green as its leader, with Michelle O’Byrne as deputy leader. March 15, 2014: The South Australian election resulted in a hung parliament. Jay Weatherill’s Labor government won 23 seats, whilst Steven Marshall’s Liberal opposition won 22 seats. Two independents, Bob Such and Geoff Brock, held the balance of power and entered into negotiations with Weatherill and Marshall to decide who would form a government. Such subsequently withdrew due to a serious illness. On March 23, Brock gave his support to the ALP and accepted a Cabinet position. The new government was sworn in on March 26. * 2013 October 13, 2013: Bill Shorten became the federal Leader of the Opposition, after defeating Anthony Albanese in a ballot for the ALP leadership.

Shorten polled 55-31 votes (63.95%) in the Caucus and 12,196 (40.08%) rank-and-file votes to Albanese’s 18,230 votes (59.92%). After the Caucus and membership weights were weighted at 50% each, Shorten won with 52.02%. The 30,426 party members who voted represented about 74% of eligible voters. September 7, 2013: The Liberal-Nationals Coalition defeated the Rudd Labor government at the elections of September 7, 2013. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that night that he would stand down from the ALP leadership. On September 13, Chris Bowen was appointed interim leader of the ALP. Tony Abbott was sworn in as Prime Minister on September 18, 2013. June 26, 2013: Kevin Rudd defeated Prime Minister Julia Gillard by 57 votes to 45 in a caucus ballot for the ALP leadership.

Rudd was sworn in as Prime Minister at 9.51am on Thursday, June 27, 2013. At the same caucus meeting, Wayne Swan resigned as deputy leader. Anthony Albanese was elected deputy leader, defeating Simon Crean by 61 votes to 38, with 3 informals. Albanese was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister to Rudd. Also at the same meeting, Senator Stephen Conroy resigned as ALP Senate leader. Senator Penny Wong was unanimously elected leader. Senator Jacinta Collins defeated Senator Kim Carr for the deputy’s position. March 13, 2013: Whilst Northern Territory Chief Minister Terry Mills was travelling on official business in Japan, the Country-Liberal Party met and elected Adam Giles as their new leader by a vote of 11-6. Dave Tollner was elected deputy leader. Giles was sworn in as Chief Minister on March 14, 2013. March 6, 2013: Ted Baillieu resigned his leadership of the Victorian Liberal Party at a party-room meeting at 7pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013.

Denis Napthine was elected leader of the Liberal Party. Baillieu tendered his resignation to the Governor around 10pm. Napthine was sworn in around 10.40pm. February 5, 2013: Zed Seselja announced his resignation as Liberal leader in the ACT Legislative Assembly. Seselja is to challenge Senator Gary Humphries for Liberal Senate preselection. Jeremy Hanson was elected Liberal leader on February 11, 2013. Alistair Coe became the new deputy leader, replacing Brendan Smyth. January 31, 2013: Isobel Redmond announced her resignation as South Australian Liberal Party leader, citing divisions over the leadership. Steven Marshall became Leader of the Opposition on February 4, 2013. Vickie Chapman was elected deputy leader. * 2012 August 25, 2012: The Northern Territory Labor government was defeated at the election of August 25, 2012. Chief Minister Paul Henderson announced on August 28 that he would stand down as ALP leader.

The ALP caucus unanimously elected Delia Lawrie to replace Henderson and become Leader of the Opposition. Terry Mills was sworn as Chief Minister of the new CLP government on August 29, 2012. March 28, 2012: Annastacia Palaszczuk was elected leader of the ALP and Queensland Opposition Leader. The seven-member caucus elected Tim Mulherin as deputy leader. March 25, 2012: Queensland Premier Anna Bligh tendered her resignation to the Governor at 12.30pm, the day after her government was massively defeated in the general election. Bligh said she would resign as member for South Brisbane on March 30. Campbell Newman was sworn in as Liberal National Party Premier on March 26, 2012. January 18, 2012: Eric Ripper announced his resignation as Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia. The ALP caucus unanimously elected Mark McGowan leader on January 23, 2012. * 2011 August 8, 2011: Mike Rann announced he would retire as South Australian Premier on October 20.

After months of speculation about his future, Rann said he would step aside in favour of Education Minister Jay Weatherill, the man endorsed by Labor Party factions as his successor. Rann tendered his resignation to the Governor on October 21 and Weatherill was sworn in as Premier on the same day. May 9, 2011: Jon Stanhope announced his resignation as ACT Chief Minister. Katy Gallagher was elected unopposed as the new ALP leader on May 13, 2011. Andrew Barr was elected unopposed as deputy leader. Gallagher was appointed Chief Minister on May 16, 2011, following endorsement by the Legislative Assembly. April 4, 2011: Campbell Newman was chosen as leader of the Queensland Liberal National Party. Since Newman did not represent a seat in the Legislative Assembly, Jeff Seeney continued as the official parliamentary Leader of the Opposition. March 31, 2011: John Robertson was elected unopposed as leader of the NSW Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition.

March 26, 2011: The NSW Labor Party was defeated in the election held on March 26, 2011. Kristina Keneally announced her resignation as ALP leader. Barry O’Farrell was sworn in as Liberal Premier of NSW on March 28, 2011. Andrew Stoner, leader of the Nationals, was sworn in as Deputy Premier. The full ministry was sworn in on April 3, 2011. March 22, 2011: The Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman, announced his intention to seek Liberal-National Party preselection for the Queensland state seat of Ashgrove. Shortly afterwards, John-Paul Langbroek announced his resignation as leader of the LNP . His deputy, Lawrence Springborg, also resigned. At a party-room meeting that evening, former leader Jeff Seeney was elected leader with Tim Nicholls as his deputy. The new Opposition Leader has committed himself to resigning in favour of Newman after the general election due in 2012. January 23, 2011: David Bartlett announced his resignation as Premier of Tasmania on.

Lara Giddings and Bryan Green were elected unopposed as leader and deputy leader of the parliamentary Labor Party on January 24, 2011, taking office as Premier and Deputy Premier the same day. * 2010 December 2, 2010: Following the Coalition’s victory on November 27, 2010 over John Brumby’s ALP government, Liberal leader Ted Baillieu was sworn in as Premier of Victoria. November 29, 2010: Victorian Labor Premier John Brumby announcement that he would not contest the leadership following the government’s defeat at the November 27, 2010 election. Daniel Andrews was elected unopposed as leader of the Victorian ALP on December 3, 2010. June 23, 2010: Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard issued a challenge to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s leadership of the ALP at a meeting between 7-10pm on June 23, 2010.

At the caucus meeting held at 9am on June 24, Rudd did not re-contest his position and Gillard was elected unopposed, as was Wayne Swan as her deputy. Gillard was sworn in as Prime Minister at 1pm on June 24, 2010. * 2009 December 3, 2009: Kristina Keneally defeated NSW Premier Nathan Rees by 47 votes to 21 in an ALP caucus ballot. She was sworn in as Premier on December 4. December 1, 2009: Tony Abbott was elected leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition, following a week of upheaval and challenges to the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull. On the first ballot, Abbott secured 35 votes, Turnbull 26 and Joe Hockey 23. On the second ballot, Abbott defeated Turnbull 42-41. July 4, 2009: Martin Hamilton-Smith was re-elected leader of the South Australian Liberal Party, defeating Vickie Chapman by 11 votes to 10, with one abstention.

Hamilton-Smith called a second ballot on July 8, 2009 at which he did not nominate. Isobel Redmond was elected Leader of the Opposition, defeating Vickie Chapman by 13 votes to 9. March 21, 2009: Following his defeat at the Queensland election, Lawrence Springborg announced his resignation as Leader of the Opposition. John-Paul Langbroek was elected leader of the Liberal National Party on April 2, 2009. * 2008 September 23, 2008: Colin Barnett was sworn in as Premier of Western Australia. Eric Ripper was elected leader of the Western Australian ALP on September 16, 2008. September 16, 2008: Brendan Nelson called a spill of the Liberal Party leadership. Malcolm Turnbull was elected Leader of the Opposition, defeating Nelson 45 votes to 41. September 6, 2008: The Western Australian election was held on September 6, 2008. Following negotiations, the Nationals announced on September 14 that they would support a minority Liberal government.

Alan Carpenter announced his resignation as ALP leader on the same day. September 5, 2008: Morris Iemma resigned as NSW Premier. Nathan Rees was elected leader of the ALP on the same day. August 4, 2008: Troy Buswell announced his resignation as Western Australian Opposition Leader. Colin Barnett was unanimously re-elected leader of the Liberal Party on August 6, 2008. May 26, 2008: Paul Lennon resigned as Premier of Tasmania. David Bartlett was elected ALP leader on the same day and sworn in as Premier. January 29, 2008: Terry Mills returned to the leadership of the Northern Territory Country-Liberal Party, following a challenge to Jodeen Carney. The party-room-ballot was tied 2-all but Carney chose to resign. Janury 21, 2008: Jeff Seeney called a Queensland National Party meeting to resolve leadership tensions. He was replaced as leader by his predecessor, Lawrence Springborg.

January 17, 2008: Troy Buswell was elected leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party after Paul Omodei called a party-room meeting. Omodei did not contest the ballot. * 2007 December 12, 2007: Bill Stefaniak advised his party room of his intention to resign as ACT Opposition Leader. Zed Seselja was elected unopposed as Liberal Party leader on December 13, 2007. November 29, 2007: Following its defeat at the federal election of November 24, 2007, the Liberal Party elected Brendan Nelson as its leader and Opposition Leader. November 24, 2007: John Howard’s coalition government was defeated at the federal elections. Kevin Rudd and his Labor ministry was sworn into office on December 3, 2007. November 26, 2007: Clare Martin announced her intention to resign as Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. Paul Henderson was elected unanimously to replace her on the same day. September 10, 2007: Peter Beattie announced his retirement as Queensland Premier.

Anna Bligh was elected unopposed as Labor leader on September 12, 2007 and became Premier on September 13, 2007. July 27, 2007: Steve Bracks announced his retirement as Premier of Victoria. John Brumby was elected unopposed as Labor leader on July 30. April 11, 2007: Martin Hamilton-Smith was elected South Australian Liberal Party leader by 13 votes to 10, after mounting a challenge to Iain Evans. April 4, 2007: Barry O’Farrell was elected unopposed to replace Peter Debnam as NSW Liberal Party leader. Debnam was defeated at the election of March 24 and withdrew from the leadership contest on April 2. * 2006 December 4, 2006: Kevin Rudd became Federal Leader of the Australian Labor Party in a Caucus ballot, defeating Kim Beazley by 49 votes to 39.

September 14, 2006: Lawrence Springborg announced his resignation as Queensland National Party leader, following the coalition’s defeat at the election of September 9, 2006. Jeff Seeney was chosen as Leader of the Opposition on September 18, 2006. May 16, 2006: Bill Stefaniak replaced Brendan Smyth as A.C.T. Leader of the Opposition, following a party-room challenge. Stefaniak defeated Smyth by 4 votes to 3. May 4, 2006: Robert Doyle announced his resignation as Victorian Liberal Party leader. Ted Baillieu was elected unopposed as Leader of the Opposition on May 8, 2006. March 18, 2006: Rene Hidding stood aside as Tasmanian Liberal Party Leader, following the election of March 18, 2006. Will Hodgman was elected unopposed as Leader of the Opposition on March 30, 2006.

March 18, 2006: Rob Kerin confirmed his resignation as South Australian Leader of the Opposition, following the election of March 18, 2006. Iain Evans was elected Leader of the Opposition on March 30, 2006. March 24, 2006: Paul Omodei replaced Matt Birney as Western Australian Leader of the Opposition, following a party-room-challenge. January 16, 2006: Geoff Gallop announced his resignation as Western Australian Premier. Alan Carpenter was chosen as ALP leader and Premier on January 24, 2006. * 2005 August 29, 2005: John Brogden announced his resignation as NSW Leader of the Opposition. Peter Debnam was elected Leader of the Opposition on September 1, 2005. July 27, 2005: Bob Carr announced his resignation as NSW Premier. Morris Iemma became Premier on August 3, 2005.

June 18, 2005: Denis Burke lost re-election for his seat of Brennan at the Northern Territory elections on June 18, 2005. Ms Jodeen Carney was elected Leader of the Opposition. February 27, 2005: Colin Barnett announced his resignation as Western Australian Opposition Leader, following his defeat in the State election. Matt Birney was elected unopposed to the leadership of the Liberal Party on March 9, 2005. February 4, 2005: Terry Mills announced his resignation as Northern Territory Opposition Leader. Denis Burke was re-elected to the position on February 7, 2005. January 18, 2005: Mark Latham announced his resignation as Federal Opposition Leader. Kim Beazley was re-elected ALP leader on January 28, 2005. * 2004 February 23, 2004: Jim Bacon announced his retirement as Premier of Tasmania on. Paul Lennon acted as Premier until he was elected by the ALP caucus and sworn in as Premier on March 21, 2004.

* 2003 November 28, 2003: Simon Crean announced his resignation as Federal Opposition Leader. Mark Latham was elected to the position on December 2, 2003. November 14, 2003: Terry Mills replaced Denis Burke as Northern Territory Opposition Leader. February 4, 2003: Lawrence Springborg replaced Mike Horan as Queensland Opposition Leader. *

Question: Who is currently the Prime Minister of Australia?
Answer: KEVIN RUDD