In Australia, we don't vote for our Prime Ministers directly. We vote for a local representative within our electorate, who is often a member of a party. If enough members of a particular party are voted into the House of Representatives, then that party becomes the new government. Ta-da! The party to hold the most remaining seats becomes the Opposition, who have Shadow Ministers and all sorts of fun things. Their main job is to criticise the current government. They often hold enough seats in the Senate that they can make things difficult for the current government. Sometimes, that ends in a Double Dissolution, which is what happened in the '70s. That is basically when the Opposition act like total assholes. SORRY KIDS.

Well, I can hear you say, that sounds like a pretty sweet system, I guess. But what about if your local party member is a dick, but you still want that party to be in government?

Well, then you're fucked.

No, seriously. That is one of the big probems with this sort of system!

That sucks, you're probably saying. But what's this got to do with Julia Gillard!

PLENTY! You see, she is a member of the ALP, who are the current government. This morning, the ALP voted to replace the leader. Or they would have, except that Kevin Rudd decided not to even make them vote. He was all "shit, guys, guess I fail, have fun "

But wait, how can they just replace the guy you voted for? You voted for THAT guy!

Well, no. We didn't.

We voted for our local member. Through that member, we voted for that party. And the party as a whole decide who their leader is. So while he was the leader at the time of the election, and it is unusual for a leader to be deposed while the party is governing, it is perfectly within the laws of our government. Neat-o!

No, not neat-o! Not at all! How can you trust someone who just betrayed their own leader?

Julia Gillard's first loyalty is not, and should not be, to the Prime Minister. Her first loyalty, as Deputy Prime Minister and a member of the government, is to Australia. Her second loyalty, as elected local member, is to her electorate. Her third is to the ALP, her party. Her loyalty to the Prime Minister is important, but it is a distant fourth to those other loyalties.

Kevin Rudd's disapproval ratings were at 55%. He was running roughshod over the other members of the party. He was making choices that (if you accept the premise that the ALP in power is better for the country than the Liberal/National Coalition which the ALP naturally do) were bad for Australia. He was making choices that were bad for the party.

The rules of our system of government give each party the power to challenge their current leader pretty much whenever they feel like it.

The thing is, the power to do that means that they have a RESPONSIBILITY to do so, if they believe it to be in the best interests of Australia. Which they did. And personally, I agree.

She did not, as some people are claiming 'depose the prime minister elected by the people', because Kevin Rudd was not elected to the position of Prime Minister, he was elected to his position as Member for Griffith. He was deposed BY the ALP, from the position THEY elected him to.

There is PRECEDENT for this EXACT SITUATION. The most recent goes by the name 'Paul Keating'.

Oh, and Tony Abbott? I've got two words for you: Malcolm Turnbull. In this context, the correct pronounciation is 'SHUT THE FUCK UP'.

While I am more than happy to debate what went down, and whether or not it should have happened, I am NOT willing to let slide any more comments that imply that this happening at all was a terrible, unprecendented betrayal to Australians everywhere. It's your job to know how your government works.