Australia's Julia Gillard has made history by becoming the country's first elected female prime minister, after two rural independent lawmakers announced their support for a Gillard government on Tuesday afternoon.
The stand-off, following the August 21 election, that delivered the country's first hung Parliament in 70 years finally ended mid-afternoon, with rural MPs Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor declaring their backing for the Labor government in a lengthy press conference. Despite earlier announcing that the ‘gang of three’ key independents would vote as a bloc, maverick Queensland independent Bob Katter broke ranks earlier the same day to announce his support for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as the nation's next prime minister.
With Labor having earlier secured the support of Greens MP Adam Bandt and independent lawmaker Andrew Wilkie, the centre-left party now has the necessary 76 seats to declare a majority in the key lower house of Parliament, ahead of the Coalition's 74 seats.
