A
leadership spill in the
Australian Labor Party, the party then forming the
Government of Australia, took place on 26 June 2013 at 7:00pm
AEST.[1]Prime MinisterJulia Gillard called a ballot for
Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labor Party live on
Sky News Australia at 4:00pm, following persistent leadership tensions. She stated that she would retire from politics if she lost the vote, while calling on any would-be challengers to pledge to do the same if they lost.[1][2] In a press conference held shortly after Gillard's announcement,
backbencher and former Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd announced that he would challenge Gillard, whilst also pledging to step down if he did not win the vote.[3][4] At the
ALP caucus meeting, Rudd was elected
Leader of the Labor Party, with the caucus voting 57–45 in his favour.
Following new leadership election reforms which introduced 50:50 weightage for the party membership and caucus in leadership votes subsequently implemented by Rudd, this marked the last time that the Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party was elected solely by the caucus.
Background
Despite the previous
leadership spill on 21 March 2013, at which Gillard was re-elected leader unopposed, tensions continued to remain high. By 10 June 2013, the security of Gillard's position as leader was plunged into doubt following the loss of significant support in the Labor caucus, as well as persistently bad opinion polling that indicated Labor could be left with the low number of 40 seats in the
House of Representatives.[5] ABC News reported that "some former staunch supporters" now held the view that Gillard could not win the
upcoming election, and ABC journalist
Barrie Cassidy identified former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as the only feasible replacement.[6]
The political editor of The Australian newspaper, Dennis Shanahan, reported on 10 June that Rudd had been "mobbed" by members of the public in
Geelong on 7 June 2013, and that he was "expected to be returned to the ALP leadership".[7] On 26 June, rumours began to spread that supporters of Rudd were circulating a
caucus petition calling for a vote to challenge Gillard for the leadership.[8] In an interview with
Sky News Australia that afternoon, Gillard told interviewer
David Speers that she had not seen the rumoured petition, and jokingly called it the "political equivalent of the
Loch Ness Monster". She also said that nobody had approached her to advise they intended to challenge her.[1] Gillard then proceeded to call a leadership election for 7:00pm that evening to end the speculation, declaring that she would retire from politics if she lost, and called on any potential challenger to make the same commitment.
Rudd announced in a press conference shortly afterwards that he would challenge Gillard for the leadership, and committed to retiring from politics if he lost.[4] Shortly before the 7:00pm vote, influential factional leader
Bill Shorten, who had first come out in support of Gillard in the
2010 and
2012 leadership spills, announced that he would support Rudd as he believed he was the person most likely to defeat
Tony Abbott in the upcoming general election.[4]
Result
102 members of the Labor caucus from the
House of Representatives and the
Senate were eligible to vote, with 52 votes needed to win. All caucus members voted and Kevin Rudd won the ballot by 57 votes to 45, therefore becoming Leader of the Labor Party for the second time.[9] Following the result,
Deputy LeaderWayne Swan announced that he would resign his position.
Anthony Albanese subsequently defeated
Simon Crean by 61 votes to 38 votes, thus becoming the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party.
Penny Wong was also unanimously elected to be Labor's leader in the
Senate, with
Jacinta Collins elected as her deputy.[10]
^O'Connor, Cassandra (27 June 2013).
"Bradbury backed Rudd". The Western Weekender. Archived from
the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.