Defence Minister Stephen Smith has announced he will leave politics at the upcoming election, adding to the growing number of senior MPs who are leaving the new-look Labor team under Kevin Rudd.
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At the end of question time on Thursday, Mr Smith told Parliament that even though he will stay on as Defence Minister until the election, he will not stand again in his West Australian seat of Perth.
The Defence Minister, joins a long list of MPs who have announced a career change in the wake of Mr Rudd's election as Labor leader.
Trade Minister Craig Emerson and School Education Minister Peter Garrett have already announced they are quitting their portfolios and not recontesting their seats. Former prime minister Julia Gillard will also not recontest Lalor, since losing the leadership ballot on Wednesday night.
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet, Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and former treasurer Wayne Swan have also announced they will quit the frontbench but are not resigning from politics.
Mr Rudd has already appointed Chris Bowen as Treasurer and a further ministerial reshuffle is expected to be announced on Friday.
Mr Smith, who faced a difficult job of keeping his seat, told the House it was time for him to leave.
''Twenty years I can do, 23 years I cannot,'' he said, before talking of the pressure the long hours had placed on his family.
Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised his ''lifelong'' friend as a ''class act'', while Prime Minister Kevin Rudd paid tribute to Mr Smith's ''extraordinary career''.
Mr Smith, who entered parliament in 1993, was foreign minister in the first Rudd government before he was made Defence Minister in 2010.
On Thursday afternoon, Mr Garrett gave his farewell speech, telling MPs that he came into Parliament as a ''frontman'' to become a ''teamplayer''.
The former Midnight Oil singer entered Parliament in 2004 and had pledged to step down from the frontbench if Mr Rudd came back as leader.
The School Education Minister and former environment minister added: ''You don't come here for the self interest, you come here for the public interest''.
During Mr Rudd's first question time since resuming his old job, the Coalition pursued the new Prime Minister over his previous statements that he would not challenge Ms Gillard for a second time for the Labor leadership.
The Opposition also called on him to apologise for the 2010 pink batts scandal, and called on Mr Rudd to scrap the carbon tax and name an election date.
It is understood that Mr Rudd has not yet decided about the election date and is now consulting with his colleagues.
Earlier Mr Rudd used his first address to Parliament to call on MPs to be a ''little kinder and gentler with each other''.
Hours after he was sworn by Governor-General Quentin Bryce, Mr Rudd used his first official comments as Prime Minister to acknowledge the contributions of Ms Gillard and Mr Swan, while talking of the difficulties of political life.
''As we all know in this place, political life is a very hard life. A very hard life indeed ... But let us all remember particularly on days like this that in this Parliament and in this place we are all human beings,'' he said.
Neither Ms Gillard nor Mr Swan were present in the chamber to hear Mr Rudd speak.
In a comment reminiscent of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s 2010 call for a ''kinder, gentler polity'', Mr Rudd added: ''So let us try, just try, to be a little kinder and gentler with each other in the further deliberations of this Parliament.''
Mr Abbott also addressed the House on indulgence, first congratulating Mr Rudd.
''I congratulate the Prime Minister for returning to the high office which he formerly occupied and which he has been dreaming of returning to for three long years and three long days,'' he said.
But in commiserating with Ms Gillard, Mr Abbott did not resist the opportunity to attack Labor's ''faceless men'', calling on the new Prime Minister to explain the events of Wednesday night and bring on an election.
''The former prime minister should have been dealt with by the Australian people at an election, not by the faceless men in the caucus last night,'' he said.
In a short official ceremony at Government House in Canberra on Thursday morning, Governor-General Quentin Bryce has also sworn in Anthony Albanese as Deputy Prime Minister and Chris Bowen as Treasurer.
Mr Rudd's family, including his wife Therese Rein, daughter Jessica, son Marcus and granddaughter Josephine, watched as he was made Prime Minister for the second time.
At the time Ms Gillard was spotted at Aussies Cafe at Parliament House having a coffee.
Shortly before question time, Ms Gillard made her first appearance in the House since losing the leadership, returning to the backbench to listen to Rob Oakeshott give his valedictory.
The retiring independent MP paid tribute to Ms Gillard, saying she had upheld her part of the agreement they made in 2010.
An emotional Mr Oakeshott also revealed that he had sent a text message to the former prime minister shortly before the leadership ballot on Wednesday night, saying her father (who died in September) would be proud of her.
Shorten on Rudd
Mr Rudd's return to the top job came as one of his last-minute backers, Bill Shorten, says he believes Mr Rudd has changed.
Mr Shorten, who dramatically switched his support from Ms Gillard to Mr Rudd just before the caucus ballot on Wednesday, has told Fairfax Radio that he believes Mr Rudd has learnt lessons from his previous experience as prime minister.
''I believe he will operate in a more consultative open style,'' Mr Shorten said. ''I believe that he's changed.''
The Workplace Relations Minister, who expects to continue in that role, said he had asked for no guarantees from Mr Rudd.
The dramatic return to Mr Rudd came despite ministers and Ms Gillard previously attacking him for "dysfunctional'' administration during his first stint as PM after winning the 2007 election.
Mr Shorten said he was not a traitor and that he had only made up his mind about switching his support to Mr Rudd after Ms Gillard announced the ballot on Wednesday afternoon.
But he said he had been thinking about it for some weeks.
He defended his decision not to speak about this publicly at the time, saying it would have been destabilising.
Despite his defence of his actions, the Coalition had Mr Shorten in its sights in Parliament. Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison did not appear to heed Mr Rudd's call for greater kindness in the Parliament, referring to Mr Shorten as the ''Kingslayer'' during a motion shortly following the Prime Minister's statement.
Former Labor leader Mark Latham, who is not fan of Mr Rudd, likened the new Prime Minister to a rat and a ''snake in the pit''.
Mr Latham, who resigned as Labor leader in 2005, described Mr Rudd's win on Wednesday as the victory of a saboteur.
''It's to be a rat and a snake in the pit - that's the message that Kevin Rudd sends,'' Mr Latham told Fairfax Radio.
Wong backs Rudd
Finance Minister Penny Wong revealed on Thursday that she voted for Mr Rudd in the leadership ballot, saying she told Ms Gillard in person of her decision beforehand.
Senator Wong said to switch her allegiance was ''the most difficult decision of my political life''.
''I had to decide who I thought would offer the best contest at the next election against Tony Abbott,'' Senator Wong told ABC Radio on Thursday.
She described Ms Gillard as a friend, which made the decision even more difficult.
Senator Wong would not say how Ms Gillard received her advice.
''But I will say that she . . . showed enormous dignity and enormous class,'' she said.
Senator Wong, who is is a lesbian and has openly advocated for same-sex marriage, said that Mr Rudd's recent shift to support the issue did not have any influence on her decision.
She also said as a feminist it was extremely hard to vote against Ms Gillard.
''But, ultimately, as I said, you have to weigh your loyalties and your different principles. And I do not believe the feminist principles which I hold dear would be served by Tony Abbott becoming Prime Minister with the views that he has expressed on women and women's capacity,'' she said.
Australian Labor Party national secretary George Wright said party members wanted the federal party to "re-energise" and "unite" under Mr Rudd.
Mr Wright, who is the ALP's chief election campaign manager, congratulated the new Prime Minister, saying he thought he could lead Labor to victory.
He also paid tribute to Ms Gillard for her policy achievements.
