Australian PM calls leadership ballot

Australia: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday called a ballot on the leadership of the ruling Labor party, bringing to a head an increasingly bitter and ugly row with her predecessor Kevin Rudd. Gillard said a vote would be held on Monday when parliament resumes, after Rudd dramatically quit as foreign minister while in Washington on Wednesday amid reports she was planning to sack him for undermining the party.

"Australians are rightly sick of this and they want it brought to an end," Gillard said of a battle for power that has been variously described by ministers as a "farce", "soap opera" and a "comedy". Gillard told reporters she would again stand, and were she to lose would retire to the backbench and renounce future claims to the leadership, calling on Rudd to do the same.

"For far too long we have seen squabbling within the Labor party which has obscured the government's achievements and what we are doing to build a stronger and fairer Australia for the future," she said. Australia's government has been torn by speculation about whether Rudd, whom Gillard brutally ousted as prime minister in mid-2010 but who remains popular with voters, would mount a bid to return to the top job. AFP