In a rapid turn of events, Kevin Rudd, Labor Prime Minister of Australia since 2007, resigned last night when it became clear that he would not win a leadership ballot. He has been replaced by Julia Gillard, Australia's first ever female Prime Minister. She had previously been the Deputy Prime Minister and was unopposed when the ballot went ahead. Until recently Rudd had been very popular but ran into trouble over a planned super tax on mining and his decision to drop an emissions trading scheme, which led to him being branded as "gutless" by rival politicians. Here is the Sydney Morning Herald's perspective, including the judgement that Australia has "wasted a perfectly good PM".
the smiley assassin strikes
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