Reuters first with news of leadership change in Australia

Reuters was a minute-and-a-half ahead of Bloomberg on June 24 with news that Australia’s Kevin Rudd had resigned as prime minister, and more than eight minutes ahead with a flash on his deputy, Julia Gillard, stepping into his shoes. Popular support for Australia’s Labor government had plummeted since April over a series of Rudd policy failures, such as his postponement of a carbon trading scheme and his inability to sell a controversial tax on mining companies’ profits, putting its re-election later this year in jeopardy. Rudd’s ouster was nevertheless a bolt from the blue, and even some of his own cabinet members were surprised by events, but it was an important piece of news for investors in the shares of Australia’s big mining companies because his exit raised the chances of a compromise deal between the government and industry. Reuters followed up on June 28 with an exclusive interview with the head of the powerful Greens party, who vowed to block any attempt to water down the proposed tax, deflating the expectations of some relief for mining companies.