Gillard 'confident' she will stay as PM

SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Sunday she was "very confident" of surviving a leadership challenge from Kevin Rudd the man she deposed calling on Labor to unite whatever the outcome.

Rudd, ousted as prime minister in a shock June 2010 party-room coup, will face Gillard in a secret Labor ballot for the leadership Monday after dramatically resigning as foreign minister in a bid for the top job.

Gillard said she was "very confident of the strong support of my colleagues" and called on her center-left ruling party to accept the decision and leave their divisions behind.