A BACKLASH against Labor's super mining tax in Kevin Rudd's home state could make him a one-term Prime Minister.
A Galaxy Poll - conducted exclusively for The Courier-Mail - warns that, if an election were held today, Mr Rudd would lose in his own backyard.
On the crucial two-party preferred vote, the poll has Labor in Queensland on 48 per cent to the Coalition's 52 per cent.
A battleground state, Queensland delivered Mr Rudd victory in 2007 but is home to eight marginal Labor seats.
Galaxy found the proposed super profits tax was fuelling dissatisfaction and the political fallout in Queensland is knocking the sheen off Mr Rudd's once stratospheric personal popularity.
It also revealed Mr Rudd is in a virtual dead heat as preferred prime minister with Tony Abbott, and that Labor now trails the Coalition on the question of who would be the better economic manager.
The poll found a majority of Queenslanders opposed the mining tax, including one-third who were strongly against it.
Half of all Labor voters polled and two-thirds of Queenslanders thought Mr Rudd and his team had done a bad job explaining how the $9 billion revenue-raiser works.
The mining industry's campaign to scuttle the tax has forced Labor on to the back foot and the fallout over Xstrata's decision to suspend two Queensland projects continues.
The poll shows 80 per cent of Queenslanders as well as two-thirds of Labor voters disapprove of taxpayer funds being used to pay for the Government's $38 million advertising campaign to sell the tax.
Galaxy chief executive David Briggs said support for Labor had plummeted in Queensland because of the resources super profits tax: "Not only do the majority of voters oppose this new tax but attempts to rectify the situation through taxpayer-funded advertising is attracting criticism which could make the whole exercise counter-productive."
The poll revealed Labor's primary vote had dropped four points since February, to just 35 per cent, compared to 42.9 per cent at the federal election.
If preferences were allocated as per the last election, Labor would lose 2.4 per cent off its two-party preferred vote.
Mr Briggs said that, if this swing was repeated across Queensland, the Government would lose many of the seats it picked up three years ago.
The Government - which shepherded Australia through the global economic crisis - is also no longer considered the best party to handle the economy. Labor fell to 42 per cent on this measure, compared to 50 per cent for the Coalition.
Mr Rudd's personal brand also took a hit.
Only 39 per cent of voters now think Mr Rudd is in touch with everyday issues, a staggering fall of seven points in the past four months.
Fifty-two per cent of those polled said he was more talk than action, up three points.
