As we reported earlier there have been rumblings coming out of Canberra all day saying that senior Labor MPs had been passing around a petition calling for Julia Gillard to step down as Prime Minister in favour of Kevin Rudd.
At approximately 4.50pm EST (or 1650 if you’re more of a 24-hour time sort of person) the incumbent Prime Minister, Julia Gillard finally addressed the issue, telling a journalist that she does indeed intend to call a third ballot on the issue.This time though, she’s raised the stakes somewhat.
“This is it,” she said. “There are no more opportunities. Tonight is the night and this is it.”
Ms Gillard has said that whoever loses the ballot between her and Mr. Rudd should immediately retire from politics.
At least this way we might actually see something get resolved, unlike leadership spill II which was the biggest let down of a sequel since Star Wars I The Phantom Menace (yes, I know that was a prequel but technically it came after the good ones so it’s still a legitimate comparison… shut up).
In typical style Tony Abbott spent all day during Question Time today making a nuisance of himself, calling for the September election to be bought forward to August 3rd. He also tried to bring a motion to suspend standing orders until the Labor leadership issue was sorted, which failed.
So by early this evening Australia could have itself a new Prime Minister – the one they actually voted for – however, let’s be honest, no matter what happens tonight the Labor party are still in a whole heap of shit come September.
Image: Getty
