Julia Gillard and Labor have lost the slight gains earned with the announcement of $15 billion in household carbon tax compensation and crashed back to rock-bottom levels of support, The Australian reports.
Tony Abbott’s attack on the carbon tax has kept the Coalition with a crushing lead over the Gillard government, but he has jumped to his own record high level of personal dissatisfaction with voters.
According to the latest Newspoll survey, conducted exclusively for The Australian last week, the Prime Minister’s personal approval dropped markedly during the first week of the parliamentary spring session. Satisfaction with her performance fell from 33 per cent to 29 per cent, while dissatisfaction rose three points to 61 per cent.
Gillard also equalled her lowest rating as preferred prime minister of 38 per cent with the Opposition leader just one point in front at 39 per cent. After a slight rise in the Newspoll surveys after the announcement of the carbon tax package during the parliamentary winter break, Labor’s primary vote has dropped back to its lowest level on record of 27 per cent, with the Coalition unchanged on 47 per cent.