Julia Gillard is a former politician of Australia who was the first woman to serve as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Prime Minster of Australia. She had been active in politics from her college days until her resignation from the post of Prime Minster in 2013. Her parents had been admirers of the Welsh Labor leader Aneurin Bevan, who had helped establish Britain's National Health Service. She joined the Victorian ALP in the later 1970s and became part of its Socialist Left Faction. Gillard later commented that her experiences with the Australian Union of Students helped her learn how to negotiate, network and persuade. She had a brief career as a lawyer, during which she often represented the working poor, but she decided that she could accomplish more in politics. Throughout her political career she has worked on issues as disparate as climate change, immigration, education, water policy, information technology and disability reform. As a woman in a male-dominated field, she has had her share of rivals including Tony Abbot. She and Kevin Rudd had worked together during his first team as Prime Minister, but they became rivals as both wanted to lead the ALP