Aussie PM faces axe

Kevin Rudd is fighting attempts to oust him. Photo / Greg Bowker

Julia Gillard late last night appeared poised to become Australia's first female prime minister.

A dramatic coup that caught Canberra by surprise and unfolded within hours came after anger at the leadership of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd erupted among right-wing Labor factions and unions.

A Labor caucus ballot - which Mr Rudd said had been requested by Ms Gillard - will be held in Canberra this morning to decide the leadership.

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Last night, it appeared that support was shifting strongly towards Ms Gillard, a 48-year-old former lawyer who is deputy to Mr Rudd.

But a defiant Mr Rudd said he intended to continue in the job, saying he was elected by the Australian people to do a job.

"I believe I am quite capable of winning this ballot tomorrow."

Although senior staff in Ms Gillard's office said the Deputy Prime Minister had not relinquished her earlier support for Mr Rudd, the momentum to push her into the nation's top office seemed unstoppable as the right, led by Victorian dissenters and the powerful Australian Workers Union declared its support.

Hours of closed-door meetings between Mr Rudd, Ms Gillard and senior ministers confirmed earlier media reports of backbench anger at the Prime Minister' style of leadership, and concern in marginal seats over plummeting polls.

Mr Rudd's personal standing and Government support have dived in the past couple of months, and an exodus to the Greens has shoved Labor's primary vote in the polls below that of the Opposition.

The Prime Minister has been hammered because of his decision to shelve his greenhouse emissions trading scheme - without telling Environment Minister Peter Garrett - and his backflips and blunders on other policies.

In the past few weeks, he has confronted the mining industry with a proposed super-profits tax that has failed to win support among voters, especially in marginal seats in Queensland and Western Australia.

He has also operated without factional support and with a closed management style.

Ms Gillard is a traditional Labor politician who, although on the party's left, has gathered overwhelming support from the right and has been steadily gaining support in the polls as preferred Labor leader.

Welsh-born, she has been an MP since 1998. She is the first woman and the first foreign-born person to hold the job of deputy prime minister.

Anger at Mr Rudd has outweighed fears that a change of leadership - or even an unsuccessful challenge - would severely damage Labor's chances of winning the imminent federal election.

But an election does not need to be held until next April, so Ms Gillard could have time to lock support behind her.

Mr Rudd said if he was returned as Labor leader and prime minister, he would send a clear message to the party's right wing.

"This party and this government will not be lurching to the right on the issue of asylum seekers," he said.

He also promised to move on the issue of climate change.

He conceded Labor had hit "heavy weather", and said "a few people have become a bit squeamish about that".

But Mr Rudd said he was not squeamish and was committed to continuing his reforms.

"I conclude from where I began. I was elected by the people of Australia to do a job.

"I was not elected by the factional leaders of the Australian Labour Party to do a job - though they maybe seeking to do a separate job on me."

If Mr Rudd, 52, is defeated this morning, he will have had a rapid fall from the top of Australian politics.

He became Prime Minister in November 2007 when Labor ended the long rule of Liberal Party Prime Minister John Howard.