A defiant Simon Crean facing journalists today. Picture: John Feder Source: News Limited
Julia Gillard during a heated Question Time yesterday. Picture: Kym Smith Source: News Limited
JULIA Gillard has woken up to another day of drama, after revelations Labor polling taken on the eve of Kevin Rudd's political assassination revealed a rebound for the overthrown PM.
Get all the latest updates by following our rolling coverage below
11am: Julia Gillard will issue a national apology to mothers and children who suffered from forced adoption practices. WATCH LIVE ABOVE
10.57am: 'It's like an episode of Bold and The Beautiful'
Manager of opposition business Christopher Pyne said if the government's media bills failed to pass the Parliament today it would be a vote of no confidence in Julia Gillard's government.
"And we would expect them to call an election immediately," Mr Pyne said.
He said the government was now akin to a ''Bold and The Beautiful" episode.
"This is no way to run a country," Mr Pyne said.
10.25am: Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is holding a media conference
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has told reporters there's no leadership spill.
''There's not going to be a leadership spill,'' he said.
''Julia Gillard has the overwhelming support and will continue to have the overwhelming support of the caucus.''
''Julia Gillard is much tougher than she is given credit for.''
9.46am: 'End the stalemate', Crean tells Labor
Simon Crean has ripped into the government's leadership, called on Labor to ''end the stalemate'' and refused to guarantee support for Julia Gillard if a leadership ballot was called.
The respected Labor elder statesman says leadership speculation is ''tearing at us from inside'' and called on Ms Gillard to call an end to the class warfare politics she has waged.
He has denied speaking directly with Kevin Rudd about running as his deputy if Mr Rudd was to seek to return as Prime Minister but did not directly answer when asked if supporters had approached him.
Simon Crean haas called on Labor MPs to unite. Picture: John Feder Source: News Limited
Despite his outburst at his own party's leadership, Mr Crean said this morning the party should ''unite behind'' Ms Gillard as leader.
He also called for supporters of Mr Rudd to stop destabalising the government, saying disunity is ''killing us.''
Simon Crean under pressure during a doorstop at Parliament House in Canberra this morning. Picture: John Feder Source: News Limited
''This is a situation in which the party needs to get its act together, the stalemate has to end,'' he said.
''We have to get the people who are destabalising to stop, the party has to focus on the future.''
When asked if he would vote for Ms Gillard if a vote was called today, he refused to confirm his support for the PM.
- Gemma Jones
Simon Crean told reporters that that Labor party needs to end the stalemate over the leadership and present voters with a united front. Picture: Sky News Source: News Limited
9.40am: Crean-Rudd plot to topple Gillard
Simon Crean is believed to be in discussions with key backers of Kevin Rudd to serve as his deputy on a joint leadership ticket.
Sources in the Rudd camp confirmed a deal was being brokered which could see Mr Crean back Mr Rudd to take back the leadership and serve as deputy prime minister.
Julia Gillard is also believed to have lost the support of another key Ministerial backer overnight.
Senior Rudd supporters this morning confirmed there had been ''movement'' late yesterday.
However, they were still trying to convince Mr Rudd to put his hand up.
''Simon is the big shift,'' a senior minister confirmed this morning.
- Simon Benson
9.30am: Fitzgibbon 'doesn't have the PM's back'
A LABOR MP has called on chief government whip Joel Fitzgibbon to resign if the day ends without a successful leadership challenge against Julia Gillard.
Queensland backbencher Graham Perrett said this morning it was the job of the chief whip to ''have the Prime Minister's back'' and given his comments yesterday he and other Kevin Rudd supporters should ''resign or resign'' come 5pm today.
''If he can't be loyal to the Prime Minister he needs to resign,'' Mr Perrett said.
Mr Fitzgibbon, a Kevin Rudd backer, yesterday gave an interview about the leadership speculation and said it would be ''silly" to suggest nothing was going on.
But he denied numbers were being counted.
- Lanai Scarr
9.20am: Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne taunted Kevin Rudd, saying he had made a mockery of Ms Gillard and Labor since losing the leadership in 2010.
''I think if Kevin Rudd had the numbers he'd have used them by now,''' Mr Pyne told reporters in Canberra.
''That's what we do in politics.''
Kevin Rudd looking relaxed during Question Time yesterday. Picture: Kym Smith Source: News Limited
9am: Backers of Julia Gillard and her predecessor Kevin Rudd are this morning rallying support within a restive Labor caucus amid intense media speculation of another leadership challenge.
The Gillard camp insists the PM still enjoys majority support within caucus while supporters of Mr Rudd suggest he has 49 votes, three short of a majority, with nine MPs undecided.
8.45am: Columnist Andrew Bolt writes Julia Gillard isn't just leading Labor to defeat. She is stripping the party of honour, leaving it with a legacy of shame.
8.30am: Kevin Rudd has emerged as the clear leader in our survey of our readers' most preferred Labor leader, with Julia Gillard coming an emphatic last.
Mr Rudd scored 53.8 per cent of the primary ''first choice'' vote - with Julia Gillard scoring 49 per cent as the ''least preferred'' choice.
Simon Crean was safely ensconced in third place.
Bob Carr and Stephen Smith appear to have a lot to do to capture the public's imagination.
The survey was taken by 15,811 readers.
8.20am: Independent MP Tony Windsor has warned federal Labor is heading for oblivion if the party's leadership crisis is not resolved quickly.
Mr Windsor, who has supported the minority Gillard government since the 2010 election, is clearly frustrated by the latest internal wrangle.
''It's a one-way street to oblivion,'' he told ABC Radio this morning when asked whether the Labor leadership needed to be settled quickly.
8am: Labor polling taken on the eve of Kevin Rudd's political assassinationrevealed a rebound for the overthrown PM, an exclusive News Limited report revealed today.
The polling, which suggested Labor could still have won an election in 2010 under Mr Rudd's leadership, was kept a secret from him, most senior ministers and the majority of the Labor caucus for fear it could have unravelled plans for the coup already under way.
The secret polling also contradicts the official Labor research used at the time to convince MPs to replace Mr Rudd.
7.20am: Meanwhile, Tony Abbott is in the spotlight again for the wrong reason. Allegations he punched the wall either side of university rival Barbara Ramjan in 1977 are backed up today in journalist David Marr's new extended book version of his Quarterly Essay: Political Animal by a mystery man claiming to be a witness.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott during Question Time yesterday. Picture: Kym Smith Source: News Limited
7am: With Federal Parliament to sit today for the last scheduled session before the May 14 Budget, chief government whip Joel Fitzgibbon last night appeared to start a countdown for a leadership change, saying it was a ''silly concept" that Labor could make a switch between the Budget and the September 14 election.
