Australia gets first female prime minister

CANBERRA, Australia, June 24 (UPI) -- Julia Gillard was sworn in Thursday as Australia's first female prime minister after Kevin Rudd stepped aside following the loss of Labor Party support.

The ceremony at Yarralumla ended an emotional 24 hours that saw the Labor Party turn its back on Rudd and install Gillard as the nation's 27th prime minister, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

"I asked my colleagues to make a leadership change because I believed that a good government was losing its way," Gillard said before being sworn. "My values and beliefs have driven me to step forward to take this position as prime minister. I will lead a strong and responsible government that will take control of our future."

Treasurer Wayne Swan was sworn in as her deputy.

She said the government would back away from its mining tax advertising campaign, calling on the industry to do the same, ABC said. She also promised to hold an election soon so Australians could have their say about whether she should lead.

Gillard faces the task of uniting a nervous Labor Party concerned about losing seats to a coalition led by Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott, ABC said.

Support for Rudd began to fade after he scrapped an emissions trading program -- the centerpiece of his environmental policy -- earlier this year, Voice of America said. He continued to lose backing when he announces plans for the controversial mining tax.

Rudd, the first Labor prime minister ousted before completing a first term, gave an emotional farewell speech in which he ranked keeping Australia out of recession as his top achievement, along with his apology for the past mistreatment of aborigines, VOA said.

"I will be dedicating my every effort to assure the re-election of this Labor government," he said.