Rudd dumped, Aussie gets first female PM

Australiahas its first female prime minister after the ruling party dumped Kevin Rudd and installed his deputy as leader. New leader Julia Gillard will lead the government to elections due within months.

Gillard stood unopposed at a vote of the Labor Party’s 112 lawmakers at a meeting Thursday, hours after a revolt against Rudd.

Rudd didn’t even stand for reappointment in Thursday’s vote — a signal that he knew his support had collapsed.

Since she is leader of the majority party in Parliament, Gillard’s swearing in as prime minister is a formality.

Gillard is unlikely to alter Australia’s key foreign policy positions such as its troop commitment to Afghanistan.

Rudd won a landslide election victory less than three years ago but suffered a recent plunge in opinion polls.

^AP