Australians are bound to have their first woman Prime Minister as members of the Labour Party chose to back up Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard to replace Kevin Rudd.

After an almost half-a day of deliberations, the Labour Party decided that Gillard should represent them. Australia is bound to hold their Parliamentary elections in 10 months.

Gillard, 48 and a lawyer, has been Rudd's deputy since December 2006 and helped Labour Party win power after almost 12 years in opposition. Analysts will be closely watching her next move for the so-called super mining tax that she supported as part of the Rudd Administration.

With this development, the Australian dollar slipped by 2 percent to 87.39 as of 7:37 a.m. in Sydney today.

Rudd's popularity slumped after he abandoned a carbon-trading plan and proposed taxing the mining industry. As the Australia Labour Party casts a vote for their next leader for the next Parliament elections, stocks of top Australian companies have risen in the New York Stock Exchange.

BHP climbed 2.1 percent in New York yesterday to $69.61, the highest price in U.S. trading since May 10. Rio Tinto rallied 2.3 percent to $51.53.