Julia Gillard became the first female Australian Prime Minister Thursday after former Labor leader Kevin Rudd stepped down. Rudd, faced with rising unpopularity after he abandoned a carbon-reduction plan and imposed a new mining tax, has now become the shortest-serving Australian Prime Minister since 1972. Gillard is considered more left-wing than Rudd, but lawmakers believe she has a better chance of gaining more voters for the embattled Labor Party since she has a warmer personality than her predecessor. Gillard will have a tough challenge in the next general election, however: Several mining companies are expected to pump money and energy into the Conservative Party to have the mining tax repealed.
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