Australian PM confident ahead of leadership showdown

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Friday said she was confident of beating Kevin Rudd in next weeks leadership showdown, as she stepped up her attack on the outgoing foreign minister.Labor Party lawmakers will vote Monday on whether to keep Gillard as leader or switch mid-term to former prime minister Rudd, who resigned as foreign minister on Wednesday after his relationship with Gillard fell apart.The choice that the nation faces and my parliamentary colleagues face on Monday is a choice as to who has got the character, the temperament and the strength to deliver on behalf of the Australian people, Gillard said.This isnt Celebrity Big Brother -- it is about working out who can lead the nation, who has got the ability to get things done.Rudd, who has never forgiven Gillard for ousting him in a Labor Party coup in mid-2010, said he would fight for the premiership because he believed Gillard would lose next years election to conservative leader Tony Abbott.But Gillard again accused Rudd of undermining her government as she outlined her credentials for the top job and said she was confident she had the support of the 103-strong Labor caucus to continue as prime minister.I am confident I can lead Labor to a victory at the next election, she said.Responding to Rudds comments that she had lost the publics trust, Gillard, Australias first female prime minister, called on her rival to be more transparent on whether he had worked to undermine her.Kevin Rudd spoke about trust today but did not deny when challenged... that he has spent time, while I have been prime minister and he has been foreign minister, behind closed doors in secret conversations with people undermining this government, she saidTheres a question of trust right there.