labor stuck at four-year low: newspoll , page-2

Julia Gillard losing ground to Tony Abbott: Newspoll
Dennis Shanahan, Political editor From: The Australian November 09, 2010 12:00AM
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Labor took a hit in the Newspoll survey two weeks ago in the wake of the release of the disastrous Murray-Darling Basin report, which appeared to turn off regional voters.

The government's primary vote dropped to 33 per cent, Labor's lowest since December 2004, in the wake of Mark Latham's massive election defeat.

Labor's primary vote and its two-party-preferred vote are still languishing below the party's level of support in June, when Kevin Rudd was removed as prime minister and replaced with Ms Gillard.

Since the previous Newspoll survey two weeks earlier, the Gillard government has been hit by another official interest rate rise as well as the Commonwealth's Bank decision to almost double its lending rates in defiance of calls from Wayne Swan for the major banks not to exceed the Reserve Bank's actions.

The number of illegal boat entries and asylum-seekers in a single year has hit a record and Ms Gillard's trip through the region did not help her attempts to establish a regional processing centre in East Timor for refugees.

The rising strength of the Australian dollar has also put Labor's promise to deliver a budget surplus in 2012-13 under pressure, although Ms Gillard and the Treasurer continue to guarantee the deficit will be wiped out that year.

While Labor's primary vote has stayed well below its election levels, Ms Gillard's standing as preferred prime minister has also begun to slip. In the past two weeks, her support has dropped from a post-election high of 53 per cent to 49 per cent, her lowest since the first week of August.

Support for the Opposition Leader as preferred prime minister has risen slightly from 32 to 34 per cent, his highest rating in two months. It also marks the closest he has been to Ms Gillard since the election campaign.

Personal support for Mr Abbott has also improved, with his satisfaction rating rising three points to 44 per cent and dissatisfaction falling four points from 46 to 42 per cent.

It is the first time that the Opposition Leader has had a positive net satisfaction rating for two months.


http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillard-losing-ground-to-tony-abbott-newspoll/story-fn59niix-1225949663305