Australia has first woman Prime Minister

Julia Gillard has been catapulted to the seat of Prime Minister in Australia, following a sudden revolt within the ruling party, that ousted Kevin Rudd from office.

Gillard has become the first female Prime Minister for Australia, and had been deputy to Kevin Rudd who chose not tyo submit his candidature for a sudden ballot that was called to find a successor to lead the party in government after the 2007 elections.

Rudd acknowledged that the party's factional power brokers had lost faith in him and did not contest the leadership at a party meeting yesterday, leaving Gillard to be elected unopposed.

"I asked my colleagues to make a leadership change ... because I believed that a good government was losing its way," Gillard told reporters.

"And because I believe fundamentally that the basic education and health services that Australians rely on, and their decent treatment at work, are at risk at the next election," she said.

Gillard was later sworn into office by Australia's first woman Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, within hours of the ballot.