With a federal election less than three months away, Prime Minister Julia Gillard was ousted as the head of the Australian Labor Party by backbencher Kevin Rudd. In what’s known in Australian politics as a “leadership spill,” Gillard had announced an internal party vote late yesterday afternoon in an effort to shore up her control, with the vow to leave politics if she lost. She ended up with 45 votes to Rudd’s 57.

Additionally, many of the senior ministers in Gillard’s cabinet, including Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan, have already resigned their positions at the frontbench. And now there’s speculation that the election could be moved forward as early as Aug. 3.

Though this may strike casual observers from the US as an exceedingly bizarre turn of events, it’s actually pretty normal for a parliamentary democracy. Indeed, Gillard ascended to power in a similar move almost exactly three years ago, when she wrested control of the Labor Party and the prime ministership from Rudd.

Although Labor may have hoped to regain some momentum in an election it’s widely expected to lose, even a change in leadership may not be enough to overcome its considerable gap with the Coalition opposition.

In fact, the UK’s Daily Telegraph reported on Monday that internal Labor Party polling predicts an electoral wipeout, where Labor retains just 30 to 35 seats after the election. The Labor Party currently holds 72 seats in the House of Representatives, with four non-Labor Party members of parliament giving it a slim majority. In the Senate, Labor holds 31 seats out of a total of 76.

Despite Labor’s tenuous grasp on power, Gillard still managed to push through controversial legislation, such as the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) and the carbon tax, that have posed additional headwinds for some of our resource investments in what was an already challenging economic environment.

But it may have been Gillard’s reversal of her pledge to not introduce a carbon tax that was her undoing with the electorate, and which ultimately cost her the confidence of her party. According to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), Labor hasn’t led in the polls in the 30 months since her reversal on this issue.

Assuming Rudd is able to assemble a ruling coalition and form a government, his party still faces long odds at the polls, though he apparently enjoys greater popularity among the electorate than Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. The SMH notes that polls have shown that Labor could increase its share of the vote by as much as a third or more with Rudd at the head of the party.

At the same time, Rudd is deeply unpopular with many MPs of his own party, as evidenced by his earlier ouster, so that could make it difficult for him to govern.

But until we have new polling data, it still seems far more likely than not that the Coalition opposition will win the election. And that should be a boon for the troubled resources sector, which hopes the Coalition will introduce tax concessions to incentivize exploration, policy that would be especially helpful for the now cash-starved junior mining sector.

Regardless of the electoral outcome, there’s at least one key piece of policy that seems likely to change: the carbon tax. At present, major industrial firms pay a fixed price of AUD23 per tonne of emissions, with a 5 percent increase per year through 2015.

But European carbon prices have recently cratered to less than a third of Australia’s prevailing price. That prompted business groups to ask the government to shift to a floating price in order to reduce their expenses.

Though Gillard demurred, both Rudd and Abbott have previously expressed their intent to transition to a floating price for carbon once they take the helm of the government. And that should help an ailing coal industry, where production costs have risen sharply over the past three years.

The Roundup

Here’s when AE Portfolio Holdings will report their next sets of financial and operating numbers. Some have “confirmed” dates, while for others we’ve provided an “estimate.”

For most, this will cover the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. We’ve noted for others that report on a different schedule the period to which the announcement pertains.

Conservative Holdings

• Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund (NYSE: FAX)–N/A (fund, reports holdings on a quarterly basis)
• AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGK, OTC: AGLNF, ADR: AGLNY)–Aug. 21, 2013 (estimate)
• APA Group (ASX: APA, OTC: APAJF)–Aug. 21, 2013
• Australand Property Group Ltd (ASX: ALZ, OTC: AUAOF)–July 24, 2013 (2013 H1, confirmed)
• Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX: ANZ, OTC: ANEWF, ADR: ANZBY)–April 30, 2013 (FY 2013 H1, confirmed)
• Cardno Ltd (ASX: CDD, OTC: COLDF)–Aug. 13, 2013 (estimate)
• CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL, OTC: CMXHF, ADR: CMXHY)–Aug. 21, 2013 (estimate)
• Envestra Ltd (ASX: ENV, OTC: EVSRF)–Aug. 22, 2013 (estimate)
• GPT Group (ASX: GPT, OTC: GPTGF)–Aug. 12, 2013 (2013 H1, estimate)
• M2 Telecommunications Group Ltd (ASX: MTU, OTC: MTCZF)–Aug. 26, 2013 (estimate)
• Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX: RHC, OTC: RMSUF)–Aug. 22, 2013 (estimate)
• SMS Management & Technology Ltd (ASX: SMX, OTC: SMSUF)–Aug. 14, 2013 (estimate)
• Telstra Corp Ltd (ASX: TLS, OTC: TTRAF, ADR: TLSYY)–Aug. 8, 2013 (confirmed)
• Transurban Group (ASX: TCL, OTC: TRAUF)–Aug. 6, 2013 (estimate)
• Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES, OTC: WFAFF, ADR: WFAFY)–Aug. 15, 2013 (estimate)

Aggressive Holdings

• Amalgamated Holdings Ltd (ASX: AHD, OTC: None)–Aug. 22, 2013 (estimate)
• Ausdrill Ltd (ASX: ASL, OTC: AUSDF)–Aug. 28, 2013 (estimate)
• BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX: BHP, NYSE: BHP)–Aug. 21, 2013 (estimate)
• GrainCorp Ltd (ASX: GNC, OTC: GRCLF)–May 16, 2013 (FY 2013 H1, confirmed)
• Mineral Resources Ltd (ASX: MIN, OTC: MALRF)–Aug. 15, 2013 (estimate)
• Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM, OTC: NCMGF, ADR: NCMGY)–Aug. 12, 2013 (estimate)
• Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH, OTC: OISHF, ADR: OISHY)–Aug. 12, 2013 (2013 H1, estimate)
• Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG, OTC: OGFGF, ADR: OGFGY)–Aug. 22, 2013 (estimate)
• Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO, NYSE: RIO)–Aug. 8, 2013 (2013 H1, confirmed)
• Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX: SKI, OTC: SFDPF)–Aug. 26, 2013 (2013 H1, estimate)
• Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX: WPL, OTC: WOPEF, ADR: WOPEY)–Aug. 21, 2013 (2013 H1, estimate)
• WorleyParsons Ltd (ASX: WOR, OTC: WYGPF, ADR: WYGPY)–Aug. 28, 2013 (estimate)