Environment Climate change In her
2010 election campaign, Gillard pledged to build a "national consensus" for a
carbon price by creating a "citizens assembly", to examine "the evidence on climate change, the case for action and the possible consequences of introducing a market-based approach to limiting and reducing carbon emissions", over the course of one year. The assembly was to be selected by an independent authority who would select people from the electoral roll using census data. The plan was never implemented. After the 2010 election, Gillard agreed to form a minority government with the Greens and replaced her "citizens assembly" plan with a climate change panel. During the 2010 campaign, Gillard also promised a $2,000 rebate for people to update pre-1995 motor vehicles. Costed at $400 million, the government said it would remove heavy polluting cars from circulation. After a delay, the Cleaner Car rebate, also known as the Cash for Clunkers scheme, was introduced. Following the
2010–11 Queensland floods the government cut the program, announcing the move as part of savings for a diversion of funds to help with flood relief. In all the government announced $1.6 billion in cuts to climate initiatives, including cuts to the solar energy rebate and carbon capture research.
Carbon price was appointed Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency in the
second Gillard Ministry. Both the incumbent
Howard government and the
Rudd Labor opposition promised to implement an
emissions trading scheme (ETS) before the
2007 federal election. Labor won the election, and the
Rudd government began negotiating the passage of an ETS through the Parliament. The Coalition called for the vote on the government's ETS to be delayed until after the United Nations climate change
summit in Copenhagen in December 2009. Prime Minister Rudd said in response that it would be "an act of absolute political cowardice, an absolute failure of leadership not to act on climate change until other nations had done so" and the government pursued the early introduction of the Scheme. Unable to secure the support of the
Australian Greens for their preferred model, the government entered negotiations with the
Malcolm Turnbull led Liberal opposition, and in the lead up to the Copenhagen Conference, developed an amended
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, with the support of Turnbull. Following a party revolt by Coalition members opposed to the Scheme, and shortly before the carbon vote,
Tony Abbott challenged for the leadership of the Liberal Party and narrowly defeated Turnbull. Thereafter the Coalition opposed the ETS outright and the government was unable to secure the support of other senators for its CPRS. Following the Copenhagen Conference, Prime Minister Rudd announced the deferral of the Scheme and elected not to take the matter to a
double dissolution election. The 2010 election resulted in a
hung parliament in which Gillard secured the support of the Greens and three independents to form a government. On 28 September, in a joint press conference with the Greens, Gillard announced that a citizens assembly would not be held and that instead a "multi-party climate change committee" consisting of Labor, Greens and Independent members, would examine the issues. On 24 February 2010, in a joint press conference of the "Climate Change Committee" Gillard announced a plan to legislate for the introduction of a fixed price to be imposed on "carbon pollution" from 1 July 2012 The carbon tax would be placed for three to five years before a full emissions trading scheme is implemented, under a blueprint agreed by a multi-party parliamentary committee. The government proposed the
Clean Energy Bill in February 2011, and by the
Upper House in November 2011.
Tasmanian forest deal A$274 million government package ending the logging of native forests was agreed on with the Tasmanian government, which has full backing of industry, but criticised by the Greens.
Communication National Broadband Network Continuing Rudd's promise in 2007, the construction of the
National Broadband Network is ongoing. In November 2010, the first major implementation of the construction was when senators, voted 30 to 28, to separate the retail and commercial arms of former state monopoly
Telstra, to increase competition as its infrastructure is incorporated in the new network. In February 2011, the NBN rollout came closer with a commercial agreement, which paved the way for the NBN Co to use Telstra's assets and for
Telstra to phase out its copper network. The network was tested in several locations in
Tasmania and then in May 2011, the network was launched on the mainland in
Armidale, New South Wales, the first of five sites on the mainland.
Internet controls Soon after Gillard first took over from Kevin Rudd as prime minister, she put herself on record as being in favour of a mandatory
internet filter for Australia and justified her stance by saying images of
child abuse and
child pornography should not be legally available on the internet.
Transition to digital television The Gillard government continued the national transition from analogue to digital television, which was launched in 2008 by Minister
Stephen Conroy. The government ran the "Get Ready for Digital TV" campaign, which encouraged Australians to buy either a
Set-top box or a
digital television. The transition was completed on 9 December 2013, when the final analogue transmissions were switched off.
Economy ,
Deputy Prime Minister and
Treasurer.
Fiscal policy Upon taking over as Leader of the ALP on 23 June 2010, in one of her first policy undertakings in her first press conference, Gillard said she could "assure" Australians that the Federal Budget would be in surplus in 2013. Gillard said that there were "no ifs no buts" about this promise and that "failure is not an option here and we won't fail". In his May
2011 Budget,
Wayne Swan projected a $22.6 billion deficit and delivered a $44.4 billion deficit. In his
2012–13 Budget Swan announced that the government would deliver a $1.5 billion surplus. As part of minority government formation negotiations, Gillard also agreed to establish an independent
Parliamentary Budget Office.
Mining tax In the final months of the
Rudd government, Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan pursued a proposal to initiate a Resource Super Profit Tax on certain mining companies. The RSPT was to be levied at 40% and applied to all
extractive industry including gold, nickel and uranium mining as well as sand and quarrying activities. The Rudd/Swan tax proposal was strongly opposed by the mining sector and by the Tony Abbott led Opposition, leading the Rudd government to instigate an advertising campaign to increase public support for the tax. In the aftermath of the 2010 leadership challenge, which saw Gillard replace Rudd,
Bill Shorten, a key Parliamentary member of the ALP Right Faction, nominated the government's handling of the way in which Rudd had "introduced the debate" about the Resource Super Profits Tax as one of the main considerations which had led to a shift in support from Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard as leader of the party. After becoming Prime Minister, Gillard cancelled the Rudd government's controversial $40 million advertising campaign supporting its mining super profits tax and called on miners to withdraw their own media campaign against the tax. Gillard pledged to re-negotiate the tax proposal and a revised
Minerals Resource Rent Tax was approved by the House of Representatives on 24 November 2011, with the government announcing that a 30 per cent tax would start on 1 July 2012 and would be expected to generate about $12 billion to 2013/14. The government said that it would allocate funds raised towards a company tax rate cut, infrastructure and an increase in the superannuation guarantee rate from nine to 12 per cent. The 2012–13 Budget set aside the proceeds of the new tax to fund family payments, a bonus for school-aged children and small business tax breaks. However, rather than generating revenue, in the first quarter the new tax incurred a tax credit liability for the government, as mining companies had no tax payable under the MRRT calculation, but could credit their state government royalty payments against future MRRT liabilities. The federal government must pay 10% compound interest on MRRT tax credits.
Relations with mining companies In 2012, Gillard and Treasurer Swan made a number of public criticisms of mining company bosses. Swan singled out
Gina Rinehart,
Andrew Forrest and
Clive Palmer and accused them of using their wealth and position to try to undermine public policy. Swan and Gillard repeated such criticisms in Parliament and in various media outlets. When Gillard suggested in May 2012 that people who lived on
Sydney's North Shore were not "real people", the Opposition and media commentators accused the government of pursuing "class warfare". In May, ministers in the Gillard government re-stated government approval for mining magnate Gina Rinehart to bring in 1700 skilled foreign workers to get her $9.5 billion Roy Hill iron ore mine underway in the Pilbara. The move drew criticism from some trade unionists and some Labor MPs. Union leader
Paul Howes "I mean I thought we were actually attacking these guys at the moment. Whose side are we on?" Prime Minister Gillard said that she had not had full knowledge of negotiations. The levy would help pay for the reconstruction of roads, rail and bridges in areas damaged by the recent floods. With a
minority government, she needed four of the six lower house crossbenchers and all of the crossbench senators, with lower house members,
Tony Crook,
Bob Katter,
Andrew Wilkie and
Adam Bandt, supporting the levy. In the Senate, all the cross benchers (Green senators,
Steve Fielding and
Nick Xenophon) supported the flood levy and passed. In a February
Newspoll, it showed that 55 per cent supported the new flood levy.
Live cattle exports , Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. In response to a television program which showed footage of mis-treatment of Australian sourced cattle at certain Indonesian abattoirs, in June 2011, Agriculture Minister
Joe Ludwig announced the suspension of Australia's live cattle export trade to Indonesia, pending an examination of animal welfare considerations. Indonesia threatened to challenge the Gillard government's ban at the
World Trade Organization. Live cattle exports were banned for two months and new guidelines introduced. While animal welfare campaigners called for the ban to remain permanent, the agricultural sector in Northern Australia suffered significant loss of earnings and the 2012 Federal Budget confirmed that a potential
class action had been communicated to the government from livestock producers and related industries, seeking compensation for loss of trade.
Education Education was a priority on Gillard's agenda, following the launch of the
My School website while she was
Education minister. The revamped version was published in March 2011.
Gonski Report The Gonski Report, named after its chairman
David Gonski, was commissioned in April 2010, by Julia Gillard, then education minister in the
Rudd government. Its findings were presented to the Federal government in November 2011. Following the submission of the report, both Federal and state governments proceeded to consider its content. It was released to the public in February 2012. In April 2013, the
Council of Australian Governments (COAG) discussed an A$9.4 billion school funding plan, based on the findings and recommendations of the Gonski report. Gillard then sought support from the state governments for her National Education Reform Agreement, and the
New South Wales Government under Premier
Barry O'Farrell agreed to sign up, announced on 23 April 2013. To fund the National Education Reform Agreement, the Gillard government announced funding cuts to higher education that would also affect tertiary students, as another A$520 million would be raised by capping tax deductions for self-education expenses. In early May 2013,
News Limited gained access to confidential documents related to the "Better Schools for all Australians" advertising campaign that was designed to promote the Gonski school reforms, and published a story about how the campaign would use free-to-air and pay television, social media sites, magazines, and newspapers, with the allocation of a A$50 million budget on this marketing. The report recommended use of model based on need, redirecting funds from over-funded schools that were not in need. Its key recommendation was the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), which is a base rate of funding per student determined on various factors, meaning additional loading for disadvantage factors, such as a high proportion of
Indigenous students. Gonski said the system would "ensure that differences in educational outcomes are not the result of differences in wealth, income, power or possessions". As of 21 May 2013, the
Government of South Australia continued to negotiate its participation in regard to the National Education Reform Agreement, but Premier
Jay Weatherill expressed his support for the Gonski model, saying that his government would sign on to the agreement once they were certain that it was a good deal for the state. The Independent Schools Council of Australia and the National Catholic Education Commission continued to question the Gonski proposal and sought to undermine Gillard's goal of securing agreements with all Australian states and the two chief ministers by 30 June 2013. In late May 2013, senior government sources expected the Labor-led state governments of Tasmania, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory to join Gillard's school funding reform proposal, and Gillard was expected to employ the momentum that is generated by their support to apply pressure on the Queensland and Victorian governments. After the
September 2013 federal election, when the Liberal-National Coalition
Abbott government replaced the Labor party, the Gonski report was removed from the government's website. It was preserved by Australia's
Pandora Archive. by that time, four states (NSW, SA, Tasmania, and Victoria) and the ACT had signed up to the funding reforms, which would be honoured by the new federal government; however, it only committed to delivering four years of funding, and refused to commit to delivering the Gonski funding to public schools in
Queensland,
Western Australia, and the
Northern Territory. In 2017 the
Turnbull government commissioned Gonski to chair a second panel, called the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools, to examine evidence and make recommendations on how school funding should be used to improve school performance and student outcomes. This report, referred to as Gonski 2.0, was published on 30 April 2018. The Turnbull government passed needs-based education funding legislation based on the SRS model in 2017, but did not expect the goal to be achieved for at least ten years. In January 2025 South Australia and Victoria signed on to the new school funding agreement with the
federal government under Anthony Albanese (after the previous agreement had expired in 2024 NSW signed up in early March, and Queensland was the last state to make the commitment, on 24 March 2025. Under the BFSA, states are required to increase their funding of public schools to 75 per cent of the minimum amount recommended by the 2012 Gonski Review and Gonski 2.0 per the SRS.
National School Chaplaincy Programme On 7 September 2011,
Peter Garrett, Education Minister in the Gillard government, announced a number of changes in the
National School Chaplaincy Programme, renamed to the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Programme. New chaplains were to be required to have a "
Certificate IV in Youth Work, Pastoral Care or an equivalent qualification", while previously no formal qualifications were required. Previously schools were only able to hire a secular welfare worker under the programme if they could demonstrate that their efforts to find an ordained chaplain had failed. On 27 September 2013 there were 2,339 chaplains and 512 student welfare workers employed under NSCP.
Health In 2010, a hospital funding scheme was drawn up by the
Rudd government, where all states and territories, except Western Australia, under Liberal control, agreed to give up control of a third of their
GST. In November 2010, the new
Liberal government in
Victoria joined Western Australia in rejecting the deal and Gillard said the old reforms would not work. Gillard revamped the health reform package, by providing the states with $16.4 billion from July 2014 to 2020. It scrapped a major element of the previous package which would reduce 60 per cent of the states recurrent health costs to 50 per cent and removed the former Rudd government plans to fund 60 per cent of new hospital capital costs. The deal was agreed on by all state premiers and chief ministers in February 2011. In March 2012, Labor secured the support of the Australian Greens and Independent Rob Oakeshott to legislate for the introduction of a means test for the private health insurance rebate subsidy. The move was predicted to inject $746.3 million towards the government's planned budget surplus. It was criticised by health insurers as likely to encourage privately insured members to return to the public health system. Prior to the election of the Rudd government, the Labor Party had pledged not to adjust the rebate.
Plain cigarette packaging Plain cigarette packaging laws, which were introduced by Health Minister
Nicola Roxon, passed Parliament on 21 November 2011. They banned the use of company logos and require all cigarette packets to be a dark green colour.
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) The
NDIS was introduced by the Gillard Labor government on 1 July 2013, beginning with a trial phase known as the NDIS Launch. The NDIS began to be introduced across Australia from July 2016.
Paid Parental Leave scheme The scheme was passed under the
Rudd government in June 2010 and came into effect under Gillard on 1 January 2011, which paid $570 a week. According to figures released by Families Minister
Jenny Macklin, 15,450 (as of 30 January 2011) have applied. There were claims when Gillard was the
Deputy Prime Minister, she questioned and opposed the scheme, which she denied.
Immigration Chris Bowen succeeded
Chris Evans to serve as Labor's Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in the Gillard government. Broadly, the Gillard government maintained Australia's long-term bi-partisan policy of a large, multi-ethnic annual immigration program. Gillard sought to rhetorically re-position the Labor government away from Kevin Rudd's "Big Australia" population goal. Gillard also identified the Labor government's handling of asylum seeker policy under Kevin Rudd as a policy area requiring improvement. In response to growing numbers of boat arrivals and deaths at sea, the Gillard government revised Labor's position on asylum seeker policy and adopted support for offshore processing. It elected not to re-open offshore processing centres established under the Howard government, and instead sought other arrangements in the region—notably through the announcement of a limited people-exchange arrangement with Malaysia. The Malaysian proposal involved Australia sending 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia in exchange for 4000 processed refugees. However, the plan was blocked by the High Court and the government later acted to re-open the
Pacific Solution processing centres.
Asylum seekers This issue of government policy towards unauthorised arrivals seeking
asylum in Australia has been of major significance throughout the tenure of the Gillard government. During the first
Rudd-Gillard leadership spill of 2010, outgoing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he feared a "lurch to the right" under a Gillard prime ministership. Rudd had dismantled key components of the
Howard government's asylum seeker policy, including the
Pacific Solution offshore processing system. The Gillard government initially maintained Rudd's policies, downplayed the notion of "pull-factors" attracting increased numbers of boat arrivals and criticised offshore processing at Nauru but, by September 2012, after the High Court had rejected an alternative plan to exchange asylum seekers for processed refugees from Malaysia amid an extended surge in boat arrivals and deaths at sea, the Gillard government confirmed support for offshore processing, and announced it would re-open sites at Nauru and Manus Island. After winning leadership of the Labor Party, Gillard identified addressing the issue of unauthorised arrivals of asylum seekers as one of three key policy areas requiring the attention of her government. She announced that negotiations were underway for a return to "offshore processing" of asylum seeker claims. Gillard ruled out a return to processing at
Nauru because it was not a signatory to the
UN Refugee Convention, and named East Timor as a preferred location for new detention and processing facilities. The East Timorese government rejected the plan. For the final few years of the
Howard government, people smuggling between Indonesia and Australia had virtually ceased and Australia's offshore detention centres were near empty. The newly elected Rudd government announced a series of measures aimed at achieving what it described as a more "compassionate policy". The Pacific Solution had involved offshore processing, a system of "temporary protection visas" for unauthorised arrivals, and a policy of turning back boats where possible. The Rudd government dismantled all three components, dubbing them "ineffectual and wasteful". Throughout 2009–2010, a flow of boat arrivals re-emerged. In October 2010, the Gillard government announced that it would open two detention centres for 2000 immigrants, due to the pressures in allowing women and children to be released into the community. One to be opened in
Inverbrackie, South Australia and one in
Northam, Western Australia. She said it would be a short-term solution to the problem and that temporary detention centres will be closed. in Sydney, 2011 On 15 December 2010 a ship containing 89 asylum seekers
crashed on the shore of Christmas Island, killing up to fifty people. Refugee and migrant advocates condemned government policy as responsible for the tragedy, and ALP Party President Anna Bligh called for a complete review of ALP asylum seeker policy. Gillard returned early from holidays in response to the crash, and to review asylum seeker policy. In April 2011 the federal government confirmed that a detention centre for single men will be built at the old army barracks at
Pontville, 45 minutes north of
Hobart. This immigration detention centre will house up to 400 refugees. Also in April 2011 immigration detainees at the Villawood detention centre rioted in protest of their treatment, setting fire to several buildings.
Restoration of offshore processing In May 2011 Gillard announced that Australia and
Malaysia were "finalising" an arrangement to exchange asylum seekers for processed refugees (the plan was dubbed the "Malaysia Solution"). Malaysia was not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, which Nauru has now moved to sign, but the government maintained that while it no longer believed that only signatories to the Convention were suitable, Nauru would not be feasible. On 31 August the High Court
ruled that the agreement to transfer refugees from Australia to Malaysia was invalid, and ordered that it not proceed on the basis that it contravened human rights protections established under existing laws. In an unusual attack on the judiciary, Gillard questioned the consistency of Chief Justice Robert French as she faced political criticism over the rejection of the Malaysia Solution. She accused the court of missing an opportunity to "send a message" to asylum-seekers, sparking opposition charges she had breached the doctrine of the separation of powers. The government was unable to secure the support of the Greens or Opposition in the Senate for modifications to enable the Malaysia Solution to proceed and instead reverted to expanding onshore processing arrangements. Continued deaths at sea and ongoing boat arrivals kept the issue at the fore of policy debate during the term of the Gillard government, leading to a major Parliamentary debate on the issue in June 2012, as news reports reached Canberra of another fatal sinking off Christmas Island.
Migration In relation to population targets for Australia, Gillard told
Fairfax Media in August 2010 that while skilled migration is important: "I don't support the idea of a
big Australia". Gillard also altered the nomenclature of
Tony Burke's role as "Minister for Population" to that of "Minister for Sustainable Population". The government released a "sustainable population strategy" in May 2011 which did not specify a target population. In October 2011 trade minister
Craig Emerson released a paper with Gillard's approval which advocated for continued population growth.
Indigenous affairs .
Jenny Macklin served as Minister for Indigenous Affairs through the term of the
Rudd government and was re-appointed to the role by Julia Gillard. The Gillard government broadly maintained ongoing support for the
Northern Territory Intervention instigated by the
Howard government and continued by the Rudd government. The program was designed to address child welfare, drug and alcohol abuse and general law enforcement concerns in isolated indigenous communities. The annual
Closing the Gap Report in 2012 found that infant mortality rates, literacy, numeracy and early childcare education had improved, but that school retention, employment and life expectancy rates remained poor. Gillard responded to the findings by saying: "Foundations are in place, work is underway. We can measure encouraging improvement right now." Amid a 2010 campaign by indigenous activist
Noel Pearson and Opposition Leader
Tony Abbott to overturn the Queensland
Bligh government's
Wild Rivers Legislation, Prime Minister Gillard would not be drawn and referred the matter to a parliamentary committee. Pearson and Abbott argued that the Queensland State legislation denied Aboriginal people economic opportunities. The Gillard government, with bi-partisan support, convened an expert panel to consider changes to the
Australian Constitution that would see recognition for
Indigenous Australians. The government's move was in line with a promise given to the Australian Greens to hold a referendum before the next election as part of a deal made following the 2010 election. The panel's broad membership included indigenous activist Noel Pearson and
Pat Dodson and Liberal Parliamentarian
Ken Wyatt. The government promised to hold a referendum on the constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians on or before the federal election due for 2013. The plan was abandoned in September 2012, with Jenny Macklin citing insufficient community awareness for the decision. For his part, Kevin Rudd was an active Foreign Affairs Minister. Following the
2011 Egyptian revolution and resignation of Egyptian president
Hosni Mubarak, Rudd called for "constitutional reform and a clear timetable towards free and fair elections". In response to the
2011 Libyan civil war, Rudd announced in early March 2011 that a
no-fly zone should be enforced by the international community as a "lesser of two evils" to prevent dictator
Muammar Gaddafi from using the Libyan airforce to attack protesters and rebels.
The Age and other media outlets reported this as representing a rift between Rudd and Prime Minister Gillard, and said that US officials in Canberra had sought official clarification on what the Australian government was proposing. Speaking from Washington, Ms Gillard said in response that the
United Nations Security Council should consider a "full range" of options to deal with the situation, and that Austialia was not planning to send forces to enforce a no-fly zone. For her part, Prime Minister Gillard attended the
APEC Japan 2010 summit in, where she held her first face-to-face meeting with US President
Barack Obama. Obama thanked the Prime Minister for Australia's continuing assistance and contribution to the
Afghanistan War. While Gillard sent her condolences to the American people and the President for the American casualties in
Afghanistan Gillard travelled to the United States in March 2011 to mark the 60th Anniversary of the
ANZUS Alliance and was invited to address the
United States Congress. Gillard made her first visit to
Washington as prime minister on 5 March 2011. She held meetings with President
Barack Obama, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner and UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon. She also met with
Michelle Obama and
John McCain. Gillard, addressed a joint session of the
United States Congress, the fourth Australian leader to do and first foreign dignitary to address the 112th congress. In April 2011, Gillard embarked on a North Asia trip, promoting closer military, economic and trade ties. Her visit to Japan was the first by a foreign dignitary after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. South Korea and China were also part of her trip. Gillard was the first foreign leader to address the
Parliament of New Zealand. In
Commonwealth relations, Gillard represented Australia at the
Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in London in April 2011 and hosted the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth in October of that year. The
Perth CHOGM saw the historic announcement, by Gillard and British Prime Minister
David Cameron, of changes to the succession laws regarding to thrones of the
Commonwealth realms, overturning rules privileging male over female heirs to the line of succession and removing a ban on Roman Catholic consorts. In late 2011, the Gillard government reversed the Rudd government's policy of blocking uranium sales to India for not being a signatory to the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Tensions between Rudd and Gillard culminated in the
Australian Labor Party leadership spill, 2012. On 23 February 2012, Rudd was replaced as Minister for Foreign Affairs by
Craig Emerson (on an acting basis), and then by former NSW Premier and new Senator
Bob Carr on 13 March. Outlining his views on managing Australia's important relationships with China and the United States, Carr said: In another early foray into his new portfolio which proved controversial, Carr threatened sanctions against
Papua New Guinea in the event of delayed elections there. Gillard toured India in October, seeking to strengthen ties. On 19 October 2012, Australia
secured election to a seat as a
Non-Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council. The initiative had been launched by the
Rudd government. In October 2012, the government released the
Asian Century White Paper, offering a strategic framework for "Australia's navigation of the Asian Century". The report included focus on Australia's relations with China, India, the key ASEAN countries as well as Japan and South Korea. In the lead up to historic November 2012 United Nations vote to promote Palestine's status to that of "non-member observer state", Gillard argued to Cabinet for a "no" vote. Gillard said a "yes vote" would set back the Mid East peace process. Cabinet ultimately determined to abstain in the vote, which was carried with a large majority at the United Nations, but with the opposition of the United States. Bob Carr said the vote would "encourage peace talks".
Defence policy served as Defence Minister in the first months of the Gillard government.
John Faulkner served as Minister for Defence during the initial months of the Gillard government and was succeeded by
Stephen Smith following the 2010 Election and return of Kevin Rudd to the Foreign Affairs portfolio. The
Rudd government in its
2009 Whitepaper on Defence had outlined a series of avenues for expansion of Australia's independent defence capacity – including a major upgrade of the
Royal Australian Navy and
Royal Australian Airforce: including the purchase of new submarines, frigates and combat aircraft. The Whitepaper cited the rise of China as representing a potential threat to the future security of the Asia-Pacific. In 2012, the Gillard government announced that the key measures recommended in the Whitepaper would be delayed or cut amid a $5.5 billion reduction in defence spending. Treasurer
Wayne Swan's 2012 Budget announced a series of cuts in defence spending to assist in the government's plan for restoration of a Federal Budget surplus. The Gillard government reduced military spending to 1.6% of gross domestic product (the lowest level since the 1930s). The Gillard government had inherited the Howard and Rudd governments' commitment to the War in Afghanistan which followed the 2001
11 September attacks in the United States. In November 2011, the
Obama Administration and Gillard government confirmed a plan to increase the US military presence in northern Australia. Defence Minister Stephen Smith welcomed the first contingent of 200 US Marines to Darwin in April 2012 – with the force projected to grow to 2500.
War in Afghanistan Since coming to office, Gillard has remained adamant towards her position in the Afghanistan War. The Gillard government believes that withdrawing troops prematurely from Afghanistan, could re-establish the country as a 'safe haven' for terrorists. On 19 October 2010 Prime Minister Gillard addressed Parliament stating her government's commitment to the war, and said "Australia will stand firm in our commitment to our alliance with the United States, the international community understands this, our friends and allies understand this, and our enemies understand this too". On her first day as prime minister, Gillard reassured her position towards the war to President
Barack Obama of the United States. Prime Minister Gillard made an official visit to Afghanistan, in October 2010. There she met members of the
Australian Defence Force in
Tarin Kowt, and had discussions with President
Hamid Karzai. This visit was part of her first international trip as prime minister. In April 2012, Prime Minister Gillard announced that her government would withdraw all Australian combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2013 – one year earlier than most expected.
Local government referendum In May 2013 the Gillard government announced that a
referendum would be held to recognise
local governments in the
Australian Constitution and allow the federal government to fund them directly. Similar referendums have been held by Labor governments in
1974 and
1988 but have failed to pass. The referendum was scheduled for the day of the
2013 election, which the government was planning to hold on 14 September 2013. Prime Minister Gillard initially indicated that she believed the referendum would have bipartisan support, but the Opposition later expressed reservations about the plan.
Same-sex marriage In September 2012, the
House of Representatives rejected a bill introduced by
Labor MP
Stephen Jones aimed at legalising same-sex marriage by 98 votes to 42. The
Senate subsequently voted against a bill to legalise same-sex marriage by 41 votes to 26. In both instances the Gillard Labor government allowed MPs a
conscience vote whilst the opposition
Liberal/
National Coalition voted as a bloc against the legislation.
Social security The Gillard government introduced new eligibility criteria for the
Disability Support Pension in 2012 which caused a decline in eligibility rates.
Biosecurity The Biosecurity Bill was introduced by the Gillard government in 2012, after being instigated by the findings of the 2008 Beale Review. It passed through
parliament on 14 May 2015 with
bipartisan support, as possibly "one of the most substantial and significant pieces of legislation to pass through Parliament during the term of the Abbott government|[Abbott] Government". The
Biosecurity Act 2015 was a major reform of the
Quarantine Act, in particular in its strengthening and modernising the existing framework of regulations governing biosecurity in Australia. ==Other==