This followed a Herald/Nielsen poll which showed the government would lose if an election were held then" and that "Rudd's action was regarded as a sign that he did not trust the repeated assurances by Ms Gillard that she would not stand".

[8][13][14] In the aftermath of the leadership challenge, Bill Shorten, former trade union leader, and key Parliamentary member of the ALP Right Faction, nominated the government's handling of the insulation program; the sudden announcement of change of policy on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme; and the way in which they had "introduced the debate" about the Resource Super Profits Tax as the key considerations which had led to a shift in support from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard as leader of the party.

[17] In the early stages of the campaign, a series of leaks were released by purported Labor Party sources, indicating apparent divisions within Cabinet over the replacement of Kevin Rudd by Gillard.

[25] On 15 July, at her National Press Club address, Gillard was quizzed by Channel Nine journalist Laurie Oakes on details of her discussions with Rudd during her leadership challenge.

Expat Chloe Angyal wrote for Britain's The Guardian that the speech tackled "sexism head-on" and was a "masterful, righteous take-down"[81] and similar opinions were expressed by other expatriate Australian journalists.

"[91] Upon becoming leader, Gillard explained her actions on the basis that she believed that the Labor government had "lost its way", but did nominate asylum seeker policy, along with carbon pricing and the mining tax as priorities of her agenda.

Leadership tensions were a feature of Labor's 2010 election campaign, with a series of damaging leaks apparently emanating from people connected to the Rudd government's inner Cabinet circle.

[95] Amdist ongoing poor two-party preferred polling results for the government, and following the loss of Independent MP Andrew Wilkie's support on the floor of the Parliament, and an Australia Day security scare in which Gillard's office had been implicated in "tipping off" a rowdy protest emanating from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, senior Labor figures were openly discussing the question of Rudd's desire to lead the party in the media.

[104] Amidst the controversy, an expletive laden video of out-takes of an intemperate Kevin Rudd attempting to record a Chinese language message during his time as prime minister was released anonymously on YouTube, apparently aimed at discrediting his push for the leadership.

[118][119] In an emotional address, Minister Anthony Albanese announced that he had offered his resignation as Leader of the House of Representatives and would be supporting Rudd because he believed the manner in which he had been replaced in 2010 was wrong.

According to Fairfax political editor Peter Hartcher, "After more than 2½ years of being consistently in a losing position in the ACNielsen poll, the great bulk of Labor MPs did not believe the government could win the election that Gillard had called for September 14.

In November 2010, the first major implementation of the construction was when senators, voted 30 to 28, to separate the retail and commercial arms of former state monopoly Telstra, to increase competition as its infrastructure is incorporated in the new network.

According to News Limited, the campaign will employ free-to-air and pay television, social media sites, magazines, and newspapers, with the allocation of a A$50 million budget to fund the activities.

[207] In March 2012, Labor secured the support of the Australian Greens and Independent Rob Oakeshott to legislate for the introduction of a means test for the private health insurance rebate subsidy.

In response to growing numbers of boat arrivals and deaths at sea, the Gillard government revised Labor's position on asylum seeker policy and adopted support for offshore processing.

[217] After winning leadership of the Labor Party, Gillard identified addressing the issue of unauthorised arrivals of asylum seekers as one of three key policy areas requiring the attention of her government.

[222] The Pacific Solution had involved offshore processing, a system of "temporary protection visas" for unauthorised arrivals, and a policy of turning back boats where possible.

[233][234] On 31 August the High Court ruled that the agreement to transfer refugees from Australia to Malaysia was invalid, and ordered that it not proceed on the basis that it contravened human rights protections established under existing laws.

[237][238] The government was unable to secure the support of the Greens or Opposition in the Senate for modifications to enable the Malaysia Solution to proceed and instead reverted to expanding onshore processing arrangements.

[218] Unable to secure passage of the Bill through Parliament following the emotional debate, the government convened a panel chaired by Angus Houston, which recommended the resumption of processing at Nauru and Manus Island.

"[243] Amid a 2010 campaign by indigenous activist Noel Pearson and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to overturn the Queensland Bligh government's Wild Rivers Legislation, Prime Minister Gillard would not be drawn and referred the matter to a parliamentary committee.

So, yes, if I had a choice I'd probably more be in a school watching kids learn to read in Australia than here in Brussels at international meetings.For his part, Kevin Rudd was an active Foreign Affairs Minister.

Speaking from Washington, Ms Gillard said in response that the United Nations Security Council should consider a "full range" of options to deal with the situation, and that Austialia was not planning to send forces to enforce a no-fly zone.

On 23 February 2012, Rudd was replaced as Minister for Foreign Affairs by Craig Emerson (on an acting basis),[256] and then by former NSW Premier and new Senator Bob Carr on 13 March.

[262] John Faulkner served as Minister for Defence during the initial months of the Gillard government and was succeeded by Stephen Smith following the 2010 Election and return of Kevin Rudd to the Foreign Affairs portfolio.

[279] On 30 January 2013, Gillard announced in a National Press Club speech that she would ask Governor General Quentin Bryce later that day to issue writs to dissolve the House of Representatives on Monday, 12 August in preparation for an election on 14 September 2013.

[282] On 2 February, Gillard announced a cabinet reshuffle following the resignations of Attorney General Nicola Roxon and Labor Senate Leader Chris Evans from their respective positions.

[285] On 19 February, Greens leader Christine Milne announced that her party would therefore be ending their alliance with Labor, as the government had neglected an undertaking to tax the "big miners".

As part of the same interview, Gillard urged Australian voters to provide her with an opportunity to rule with a majority so that compromises with the Greens and independents in both houses would not be necessary, as had been the case for the hung parliament during her term thus far.

[290] In the wake of the "blue ties and abortion speech", a Fairfax-Nielsen poll from mid-June 2013 found that Labor's standing among men dropped by 7%, while the party garnered 29% of the overall primary vote.