AUSTRALIA: First Female Prime Minister of Australia Sworn In

After a revolt that unfolded over less than 24 hours and surprised lawmakers and the public, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stepped aside Thursday and was replaced by his deputy, Julia Gillard, who became Australia's first female leader.

The ruling Labor Party revolted against Kevin Rudd and installed his deputy.

Faced with plunging approval ratings, rising opposition from within his center-left Labor Party and a looming national election, Mr. Rudd agreed to step down rather than face a humiliating vote on his leadership. Party officials unanimously selected Ms. Gillard to take over.

Ms. Gillard, 48, who had been one of Mr. Rudd's closest advisers, insisted for months that she was not interested in challenging him for the leadership. But she said Thursday that she had changed her mind because she felt that “a good government was losing its way.”

“My values and beliefs have driven me to step forward to take this position as prime minister,” she said. “I will lead a strong and responsible government that will take control of our future.”

After being sworn in, Ms. Gillard praised Mr. Rudd, who took a back seat on Thursday during a routine parliamentary debate, for his “remarkable and dignified” conduct.

Mr. Rudd, who once enjoyed the highest approval ratings of any Australian leader, left office having had the shortest tenure of any prime minister in nearly 40 years, one of only a handful who did not complete a full 3-year term.

Surrounded by his wife and three children, Mr. Rudd paused repeatedly to fight back tears as he used a news conference to list the accomplishments of his two and half years in office, starting many of his sentences with the defiant words, “I am proud.”

“I have given it my absolute all,” he said. “In that spirit, I am proud of the achievements that we have delivered to make this country fairer.”

He later added, after the tears, “What I am less proud of is the fact that I have now blubbered.”

Mr. Rudd, who became known as “24/7 Kevin” for his long hours and aggressive managerial style, said he would not quit politics and pledged to dedicate his “every effort” to ensure that the Labor government returns to power at the next election, which must be held by April 2011.

Most analysts had predicted an election for October or November of this year. Now, many observers believe that Ms. Gillard will take some time to consolidate her position and win support from the public before calling an election. She said Thursday that she would call an election in the “coming months.”

Mr. Rudd swept to power on a surge of good will in 2007, ending the 12-year tenure of a Conservative, Prime Minister John Howard. For most of his first two years, he enjoyed approval ratings well above 60 percent.

Putting climate change at the center of his agenda, Mr. Rudd drew praise by ratifying the Kyoto Protocol — thus ending Australia's longstanding opposition to the treaty — and promising to enact a domestic cap-and-trade program.

He softened the country's often-criticized policies toward asylum seekers and was lauded for issuing a historic apology to Australia's “stolen generation,” thousands of aborigines who were taken from their families in a policy of forced assimilation. During his tenure, Australia emerged relatively unscathed from the global financial crisis, one of the only industrialized countries to escape a downturn.

But public support for Mr. Rudd began to fall apart in February, when some of the programs in his economic stimulus package were dogged by claims of mismanagement and corruption, notably a botched home insulation program that resulted in more than 100 house fires and at least four deaths. The program, which promised to increase job opportunities by offering government-financed insulation to homes that needed it, was rushed and poorly administered, leading to the establishment of many fly-by-night businesses that lacked the technical expertise to handle the installations safely.

Sentiment fell further in April with Mr. Rudd's decision to shelve his cap-and-trade energy plan until at least 2013, after the policy was twice defeated by a bloc of Conservative and Greens lawmakers in the Senate. Because of this, many Labor supporters, frustrated by Mr. Rudd's unwillingness to call an early election over the issue, switched their allegiance to the Greens, according to polls.

But what appeared to seal Mr. Rudd's fate was his failure to garner support for a contentious mining tax, meant to spread the wealth from Australia's two-decade resources boom to other sectors of the economy. The decision to pursue the tax, which Parliament has not approved, came without warning or consultation, confusing the electorate and angering Australia's powerful mining industry.

Mr. Rudd, a former diplomat (and a fluent Mandarin speaker), also proved surprisingly inept at dealing with people. Colleagues within the Labor Party criticized him as being autocratic. Reporters in Canberra accused him of being cold, insecure, tantrum-prone and overbearing, characteristics that did little to endear him to the electorate.

Ms. Gillard, who has served in Parliament since 1998, is widely viewed as a hard worker and a clear communicator, despite being routinely mocked for her ever-changing hairstyles and broad nasal accent. Senior Labor Party officials hope she will be a more personable alternative to Mr. Rudd.

Nevertheless, the timing of Mr. Rudd's ouster surprised many observers, including some senior lawmakers. Despite the plunging support for Mr. Rudd, most analysts had not expected a serious leadership contest within the party until after the national election.

The process unfolded with remarkable speed. It started Wednesday afternoon as rumors spread in Canberra and beyond that there would be a challenge to Mr. Rudd from within the party. That challenge was confirmed late in the evening. Initially, it appeared that Mr. Rudd would oppose Ms. Gillard, but early on Thursday it became clear that he did not have sufficient backing, and he announced that he would not run.

In accepting the leadership, Ms. Gillard said she would reopen the case for a carbon pricing system, although she did not say whether she would fight for Mr. Rudd's cap-and-trade plan. She also pledged to end the bitter fighting over the proposed mining tax by negotiating an acceptable compromise with the mining industry.

“Australians are entitled to a fairer share of our inheritance, the mineral wealth that lies in our grounds,” she said. “Today, I am throwing open the government's door to the mining industry and I ask that, in return, the mining industry throws open its mind.”

As part of the political change, Wayne Swan, the country's treasurer, was promoted to the post of deputy prime minister. He helped guide Australia's economy through the financial crisis. Mr. Swan, who retains the economic portfolio, will fly to Canada on Friday to take Mr. Rudd's place at a summit meeting of the Group of 20 major economies.