Julia Gillard continued to differ as to the extent of Gillard's foreknowledge and planning of the replacement of Rudd. Rudd initially said that he would challenge Gillard, but it soon became apparent that he did not have enough support within the party to survive in his position. Hours before the vote on 24 June, he resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labor Party, leaving Gillard to assume the leadership unopposed. Treasurer Wayne Swan was at the same time elected unopposed to succeed Gillard as Deputy Leader. Shortly afterward, Gillard was sworn in as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia by
Julia Gillard was given additional responsibilities for Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs. In these roles, in the wake of the Tampa and Children Overboard affairs, which were partly credited with Labor's 2001 election loss, Gillard developed a new immigration policy for the Labor Party. Gillard was later promoted to the position of Shadow Minister for Health and Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House (to Mark Latham) on 2 July 2003. During this time, she shadowed Tony Abbott, with the rivalry between the two often attracting attention from the media. She was later given additional responsibility for managing opposition business in the