Australian leadership row intensifies as PM calls ballot

Australian prime minister Julia Gillard called a ballot on the leadership of the ruling Labour Party, bringing to a head an increasingly bitter and ugly row with her predecessor Kevin Rudd.

Gillard said a vote would be held on Monday when parliament resumes, after Rudd dramatically quit as foreign minister while in Washington amid reports she was planning to sack him for undermining the party.

“Australians are rightly sick of this and they want it brought to an end,” Gillard said of a battle for power that has been variously described by ministers as a “farce“, “soap opera” and a “comedy”.