 GOVERNOR-General Quentin Bryce has invited Kevin Rudd to be sworn in as prime minister, after receiving legal advice. Timeline: Julia Gillard Dec 2006 : Appointed deputy leader of Labor Party 
 
 : Appointed deputy leader of Labor Party Dec 2007 : Sworn in as deputy prime minister to PM Kevin Rudd 
 
 : Sworn in as deputy prime minister to PM Kevin Rudd Jun 2010 : Successfully challenges Mr Rudd for the leadership, becomes 27th prime minister of Australia 
 
 : Successfully challenges Mr Rudd for the leadership, becomes 27th prime minister of Australia Aug 2010 : General election results in hung parliament; forms minority government with independents 
 
 : General election results in hung parliament; forms minority government with independents Feb 2012 : Survives a leadership challenge by Mr Rudd 
 
 : Survives a leadership challenge by Mr Rudd Jan 2013 : Sets general election date of 14 September 2013 
 
 : Sets general election date of 14 September 2013 Mar 2013 : Leadership ballot called but Mr Rudd does not contest 
 
 : Leadership ballot called but Mr Rudd does not contest June 2013: Calls another leadership ballot after Mr Rudd's supporters attempt to force a vote Profile: Julia Gillard Profile: Kevin Rudd 
 
 "Anybody who enters the ballot tonight should do it on the following conditions: that if you win you're Labor leader, that if you lose you retire from politics." A poll published earlier this month suggested that three cabinet ministers would lose their seats under Ms Gillard, but would retain their seats if Mr Rudd was leading the party. Mr Rudd was elected after Ms Gillard called a ballot in a television interview on Wednesday, following reports first published by Fairfax Media that supporters of Mr Rudd were circulating a caucus petition to allow a challenge for the prime ministership. The Labor party has been divided by bitter in-fighting between supporters of Ms Gillard and Mr Rudd, and there has been sustained speculation over the leadership in recent weeks. "I believe with all my heart that I owe it to the Australian people to offer them a viable alternative." Ms Gillard toppled Mr Rudd in a leadership challenge in 2010, but he remains more popular with voters. Election date 
 
 It is unclear whether Mr Rudd will stick to Ms Gillard's schedule of a September 14 election or go earlier. Earlier on Wednesday, Tony Abbott challenged Ms Gillard to bring forward the election date to 3 August, and said that "paralysis" was gripping the government. At least one cross-bench MP has signalled he may shift his support to the Coalition. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday night that what mattered now was to have an election "as soon as possible". News Limited can reveal acting Solicitor-General Robert Orr has recommended that the Governor-General "commission The Honourable Kevin Rudd as prime minister. However, other independents Craig Thomson, Bob Katter, Andrew Wilkie have indicated they would back Mr Rudd. "We cannot have the government or the Labor Party go to the next election with a person leading the Labor Party and a person floating around as the potential alternate leader."
– The long struggle between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd for leadership of Australia's Labor Party—and subsequently Australia—is finally over, with Rudd defeating Gillard to take the reins once again. Rudd won a party caucus vote 57 to 45, after Gillard—who ousted Rudd as prime minister in 2010 and fought off a leadership challenge earlier this year—called for another leadership vote earlier today, amid growing internal opposition and slumping public support ahead of an election later this year, Reuters reports. "Anybody who enters the ballot tonight should do it on the following conditions: that if you win you're Labor leader, that if you lose you retire from politics," Gillard said before the vote, as per the BBC. But Rudd isn't PM again just yet—the change still has to be approved by the Governor-General (the Queen's Aussie rep), and several independent and minority party members, whose support is needed to keep the Labor Party in power, have said they will support a "no confidence" vote against Rudd, the Age reports. That would leave the country in a sticky and unprecedented political situation, reports the News, one that could see the entire Parliament dissolved or conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott being installed as PM.