Opposition leader Tony Abbott had played into her hands during a particularly nasty and vitriolic day of parliamentary debate. Her response was swift and sharp.
"Gillard" almost immediately became one of the world's top trending words on Twitter, and her question-time tirade made headlines in the United States, Britain, India, South Africa and Canada.
The reason for the global exposure?
Ms Gillard slammed Mr Abbott as a misogynist - a label Labor has used to describe him for weeks. By deflecting an attack on her integrity and skewering Mr Abbott during a broader debate over political judgement and sexism, the Prime Minister tried to distance herself from the resignation of Speaker Peter Slipper.
But Ms Gillard had stood by Mr Slipper just hours before he quit over revelations he had used offensive language to describe female genitalia. Ms Gillard's Labor Party, hanging to the slimmest of majorities thanks to crossbench MPs, faced a torrid time in a Parliament that has been slipping into the mire. Labor was decimated in the latest Australian state elections and - even allowing for Ms Gillard's attention-grabbing speech in Parliament - she too seems all but certain to be consigned to the scrapheap at the next Federal elections.
Ms Gillard's speech came after a tumultuous week or so. It started when controversial right-wing Australian talkback radio host Alan Jones was secretly taped telling a group of Young Liberals that Ms Gillard's father had died of shame. When the comments were reported last week, the uproar was heard throughout Australia, with advertisers withdrawing their support from Mr Jones' show, despite his subsequent "apology".
With the media still consumed by the fallout, Mr Abbott told Parliament that every day the Australian Prime Minister stood in Parliament to defend the Speaker would be another day of shame for the Parliament and another day of shame for a government that should already have died of shame. It was impossible not to draw comparisons with the comments made by Mr Jones.
Ms Gillard then delivered what some in the media called a "stern drubbing" to Mr Abbott, telling him and Parliament: "The Government is not dying of shame, my father did not die of shame. What the Opposition leader should be ashamed of is his performance in Parliament." Suddenly, she looked like a prime minister, a strong woman who steered justified rage into a powerful speech, even if it ignored many of the problems facing her Government.
But, despite the fiery oratory, neither leader covered themselves in glory on a day that, if nothing else, showed just how low federal politics has stooped in Australia. Labor, it seems, will do anything to keep power; the Coalition will do anything to claim it.
Mr Slipper resigned from the Liberal Party to become Speaker.
He no longer holds the role, but the coalition says it will not try to refuse his vote if he sides with the Opposition. This is in contrast to its insistence the vote of former Labor MP turned independent Craig Thomson is "tainted" and cannot be accepted. Mr Thomson sits on the crossbench after being investigated over allegations involving the Health Services Union. Labor, meanwhile, seems happy to take any votes it can get.
The situation is not without parallel in New Zealand, when former prime minister Helen Clark clung to New Zealand First leader Winston Peters until it was a step too far. Now, Prime Minister John Key is sticking by Act New Zealand leader John Banks, because the risks of dropping Mr Banks are too great if his vote cannot not be relied on. Politics can be a dirty game of deals and coalitions, and the recent machinations in Australia prove first-past-the-post politics can be just as messy as MMP.
Across the Tasman, many Australians have called for an early election, saying the situation in Canberra must not be allowed to continue. The scheduled polling day is November 30 next year. Ms Gillard seems set to lose no matter which way she turns, but few people want Mr Abbott, either. At this stage, it seems the only certainty is the country's dirty "politics" will just get grubbier.
