Australia's first female Prime Minister!

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Today is an important day for all Australians as Julia Gillard has been chosen by the Labor caucus as the first female Prime Minister. While it is a landmark, the manner in which her rise has occurred leaves me feeling sorry for Kevin Rudd who was elected on a wave of excitement and anticipation of the changes to come.


KRudd will be remembered for his apology to the Stolen Generation, as well as overturning WorkChoices. Despite these improvements, a number of important policy backflips (immigration, ETS, etc., etc.) and policy changes (the mining supertax) rendered Rudd's often frenzied leadership open to criticism. These criticisms came from many corners. The most complex analysis of Rudd's rise to power came in David Marr's Monthly Essay which contended that Rudd's political persona can be explained at least partially by his experiences as a child which brought about a so-called "inner rage". As questions began to be asked about KRudd's leadership, his composure seemed to dissapate. 


Don't get me wrong, I am happy to see Gillard obtain such wide support from her Labor colleagues. The big test, however, is whether Australians will directly elect Julia at the election later this year. This makes for a very interesting election campaign. No doubt, Abbott will struggle to campaign against Gillard. I look forward to Abbott putting his foot in it.