CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia on Thursday appointed its first woman prime minister, Julia Gillard, who vowed to end division over a controversial mining tax, resurrect a carbon trade scheme and call elections within months.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd made an emotional and ignominious exit, quitting just before the Labor Party was to dump him in a ballot and less than three years after a stunning election victory in 2007.

The Rudd government's dramatic slide in support this year sparked fears within the ruling party of an electoral defeat at a poll expected around October.

For further details, see the full article at http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65N00120100624