Australia’s foreign minister resigns amid dispute

CANBERRA, Australia—Australia’s foreign minister resigned Wednesday amid an ongoing leadership squabble, saying he could not continue in his role without the support of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd announced his resignation during an early morning news conference in Washington, where he was visiting on official business. The announcement comes amid relentless speculation that he planned to seize power from Gillard.

Gillard came to power in an internal coup within the center-left Labor Party that ousted Rudd in June 2010. She became only the third prime minister since World War II to gain power in this way from a popularly elected incumbent.

“I can only serve as foreign minister if I have the confidence of Prime Minister Gillard and her senior ministers,” Rudd said. “I therefore believe the only honorable thing, and the only honorable course of action, is for me to resign.”

In recent days, speculation had been mounting that Rudd supporters were planning an attempt to restore him to power soon. That had become a distraction, Rudd said.

“The truth is the Australian people regard this whole affair as little better than a soap opera and they are right,” he said. “And under current circumstances, I won’t be part of it.”

Rudd has left open the option of quitting politics, which would trigger a by-election and could cost Labor its single seat majority in Parliament. That would give the conservative opposition coalition the chance to form a new government if it can win the support of independent legislators, or it could force early elections.

There is also the chance that Rudd could challenge Gillard for the prime minister’s job as early as Monday. That would be possible if Gillard were to call for a party leadership vote to confirm her authority, though Gillard appears to be more popular right now.

It was not immediately clear what Rudd’s next move would be. He said he planned to fly back to Australia on Thursday to sort out his future. But in his resignation speech, he was highly critical of Labor’s decision to oust him.

“I can promise you this: There is no way — no way — that I will ever be party to a stealth attack on a sitting prime minister elected by the people,” Rudd said. “We all know that what happened then was wrong and it must never happen again.”

Rudd said his duties in Washington will be fulfilled by Australia’s ambassador, Kim Beazley, a former Labor leader whom Rudd deposed in a party ballot in 2006 with the support of Gillard as his deputy.

Gillard maintains that she retains the support of the majority of her Labor colleagues.

Many Australians were angry when the government dumped Rudd, the prime minister who swept into office at general elections in 2007. In Australia’s system, the prime minister is chosen by a majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, not by voters.

In 2010, Labor lawmakers moved against Rudd because opinion polls suggested that they were unlikely to win elections that year under his leadership.

Labor under Gillard scraped through the 2010 elections to form the first minority government in Australia since World War II. Polls now suggest that Labor is headed for a devastating defeat.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott said Rudd’s resignation confirmed that the government is unworthy to continue in office.

Abbott said only his coalition can provide the strong and stable government that will address the issues facing the country and restore hope and opportunity for all Australians.