Kevin Rudd is now Prime Minister of Australia while former first woman prime minister Julia Gillard contemplates her life as a private citizen with an annual pension of $200,000.

When Julia Gillard was kicked out from the Labor party leadership and immediately turned her back on politics, other ministers left their seats. The staff serving the ex-ministers is left without jobs and wondering what to do next. Departmental collectors confiscated their mobile phones and scrambled to remove their names from the government database.

On Wednesday night, the wine cellar at The Lodge was almost empty as former treasurer Wayne Swan, some ministers, advisers and other guests loyal to Gillard all drowned their sorrow into the early hours of the morning.

The newly installed Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, is currently occupying the ministerial office of Anthony Albanese who is also his new deputy. Former PM Julia Gillard's office is still of flowers from sympathisers and admirers in the official prime minister's suite.

During the day he was to be sworn into office, Rudd went to the Government House in a limousine with undistinguished plates. The Governor-General swore Rudd as Prime Minister of the Parliament of Australia for the second time. He left the building bearing new plates - C1.

Julia Gillard drifted to the backbenches with ex-ministers and supporters Craig Emerson, Wayne Swan, Peter Garrett and Greg Combet. Gillard risked it all and lost. Her public announcement of retiring if she failed to get the caucus to support her is not forgotten.

The moment Kevin Rudd won the vote, Gillard knows she will no longer be a member of the parliament after election.

Private Julia Gillard

No longer a prime minister, Gillard will simply be a private citizen and a 51-year-old lawyer. In history, former prime ministers do well in their careers after serving Parliament.

After being on the cover of Australian Women's Weekly knitting a toy kangaroo for the yet to be seen firstborn child of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Gillard's future still remains uncharted.

Gillard should not worry about her future since long-term MPs tend to get generous pensions. Superannuation rules state a rate of 75 per cent of salary payable to the highest office a person has held in government.

In Gillard's case, she had a salary worth $494,430 the past year. When calculated, Gillard's pension would reach $371,572.50. Legislation has set the superannuation to a maximum of $200,000 so in Gillard's case, she will be given the maximum amount. She will also get free air travel courtesy of a lifetime Gold Pass, a car, office and staff. Not bad for the first female prime minister of Australia.

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