【英语国际】陆克文辞职 澳大利亚任命首位女总理

In an 11th hour move Kevin Rudd has bowed to pressure and stood down as Australia’s prime minister, making deputy prime minister Julia Gillard Australia’s first female leader.

Mr Rudd resigned from the leadership at a caucus meeting on Thursday rather than force the party to a ballot. The challenge reared after a push late last night to oust Mr Rudd, driven by the factional power brokers within the Labor party concerned about his plummeting popularity.

Late Wednesday night Mr Rudd remained defiant and vowed to fight until the end but by early Thursday morning he was encouraged to step down.

The Welsh-born Ms Gillard, a lawyer who has long been in politics both as an adviser and MP, was elected unopposed and Wayne Swan, the Austrlaian treasurer, was elected Labor’s new deputy leader

Mr Rudd will be the first Labor prime minister to be dumped by his party before he could complete a term in office.

Mr Rudd, ranked as one of Australia's most popular prime ministers in his first two years in power after his election in 2007, has seen his standing badly damaged by a series of policy mishaps over climate change and refugees.

He has also been hurt by a backlash led by powerful local mining companies over the government's decision to impose a so-called superprofits tax on the resources sector.

The well-funded campaign against the tax, led by some of the country's richest people in tandem with mining giants such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, has seen Labor support plummet in resource-rich states such as Queensland and Western Australia.

With an election expected later this year, the party's factional bosses, who represent the interests of both union powerbrokers and different state-based groupings, appear to have given up on Mr Rudd's regaining popularity.

Mr Rudd, who had been due to fly to Canada today for summit of G20 nations, called the vote on his leadership late on Wednesday night after being informed by Ms Gillard that she would challenge him.

陆克文(Kevin Rudd)在最后一刻屈服于压力，辞去了澳大利亚总理一职。原副总理朱莉娅?吉拉德(Julia Gillard)接任，成为澳大利亚首位女总理。

陆克文是在周四早晨工党举行的一次“联线”会议(caucuse meeting)中辞职的，并没有迫使工党进行选举。周三晚间，对陆克文民意支持率大跌深感担忧的工党党魁们决定发起对其领导地位的挑战。

在周三深夜，陆克文仍然充满斗志，誓言将战斗到底，但周四早晨他选择了辞职。

出身于英国威尔士的吉拉德被毫无异议地任命为总理。她是一名律师，长期涉足政坛，先后担任顾问和议员。财长韦恩?斯旺(Wayne Swan)被任命为工党第二把手。

在澳大利亚历史上，陆克文成为首个尚未完成任期就被自己政党抛弃的工党总理。

陆克文于2007年当选总理，最初两年被评为澳大利亚历来最受欢迎的总理之一，但在气候变化和难民问题上的一系列政策失误，使其声望大损。

澳大利亚政府计划向资源行业征收暴利税的决定，引起国内各大矿业企业带头的反弹，这也损及他的地位。

反对资源暴利税的活动受到慷慨资助，由澳大利亚国内一些最富有的人以及必和必拓(BHP Billiton)和力拓(Rio Tinto)等矿业巨擘带头，已导致工党在昆士兰和西澳等资源丰富的数个州支持率大跌。

澳大利亚将于今年晚些时候举行选举，工党内各派别领导人似乎已对陆克文再次获得民意支持不抱希望。这些派别既包括工会权力掮客利益，也包括各州不同团体利益。

在吉拉德知会陆克文将挑战他后，陆克文于周三晚间召集了党内选举，就他的领导地位进行表决。陆克文原定周四飞赴加拿大出席20国集团(G20)会议。

译者/杨远