Mr Rudd started by ratifying the Kyoto protocol on climate change, then issued a long-awaited formal apology to Australia's indigenous people for past injustices.
But none of Mr Rudd's changes matches the historical resonance of a statement he plans to make on February 13th: a formal apology to Australia's indigenous people for past injustices under European settlement.
The leadership ructions came hours after Ms Gillard issued a historic apology to people affected by Australia's forced adoption policy between the 1950s and 1970s.
The apology will carry much broader symbolic meaning for a people whose forebears occupied Australia for tens of thousands of years before the British claimed it in 1788.