Australia’s first woman Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday survived a leadership challenge within her party emerging victorious in a vote after her rival Kevin Rudd made a last-minute decision not to run against her.
Gillard (51) was elected unopposed at a meeting of the labor Caucus following her dramatic announcement to call a leadership ballot as internal unrest mounted in the party ahead of a general election in September.
Gillard threw her job open for contest after senior Cabinet Minister Simon Crean asked to step aside and clear the way for former leader Rudd to head the minority Government. “I’m not prepared to dishonour my word... Others take such commitments lightly, I do not,” Rudd said just minutes before labor Parliamentarians were due to vote. PTI