Julia Gillard thanked the colleagues who stuck with her through a difficult time in politics.
"They defied political gravity time after time to provide me with support as leader when things going got incredibly tough," she said.
"When those that read polls were saying there was only one logical conclusion and that was to change the leader, my colleagues showed courage, they showed determination, they showed spine in the face of that kind of pressure."
"They showed conviction in our Labor project and in our Labor cause, they showed belief in the agenda of this Labor government," she said..
She said she respected he decision of those supporters who deserted her in last night's leadership ballot.
"But I do say to my caucus colleagues, don't lack the guts, don't lack the fortitude, don't lack the resilience to go out there with our Labor agenda and to win this election I know that it can be done," she said.
Ms Gillard said she was privileged to have been the nation's first female prime minister but said it partly explained her demise.
"There has been a lot of analysis about the so called gender wars, about me playing the so called gender card because heavens knows no one noticed I was a woman before raised it," she said.
"I do want to say the reaction to being the first female prime minister does not explain everything about my time in the prime ministership, nor does it explain nothing about my prime ministership," she said.
"I've been a little bit bemused by those colleagues in the newspapers who have admitted that I have suffered more pressure as a result of my gender than other prime ministers in the past but they've concluded it had zero effect on my political position or the position of the Labor Party."
"It explains some things and it is for the nation to think in a sophisticated way about those shades of grey," she said.
"What I am absolutely confident of is that it will be easier for the next woman and for the woman after that and the woman after that and I'm proud of that," she said.
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