Profile: Kevin Rudd

(CNN) -- Australians are voting in a federal election on November 24, in what many analysts predict will be a tight race.

The following is a look at Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd:

-- Rudd has been the Federal Member for Griffith since 1998. In 2001 he joined Federal Labor's Shadow Cabinet and on December 4, 2006, Rudd defeated Kim Beazley to become leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition.

-- Rudd was born on September 21, 1957 near Brisbane, Queensland. As a student, he studied Chinese language and history at the Australian National University, before working at the Australian Embassies in both Stockholm and Beijing.

-- In 1988 he left the Department of Foreign Affairs to work as Chief of Staff to the then Queensland State Opposition Leader, Wayne Goss. He also worked as a China Consultant with KPMG before becoming Member for Griffith.

-- Rudd is a committed Christian who has talked extensively about his hard childhood, including the early death of his farming father in a car accident. He says his childhood experiences helped shape his political outlook.

-- He is said to be highly intelligent, though somewhat mechanical in personality. BBC News Sydney correspondent Nick Bryant described him as "austere, cerebral and self-disciplined, who is easy to respect but harder to like."

-- On policy matters, he has pledged to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq and sign the Kyoto pact. He has also promised health and education reform, as well as tackling Howard's contentious laws on industrial relations.

-- Rudd is married to Therese, who manages her own employment solutions business. They live with their three children -- Jessica, Nicholas and Marcus. E-mail to a friend

Sources: The official Web site of the Australian Labor Party; BBC; The Australian newspaper