PM stages fightback in polls (Australia)

The Age (Melbourne) ^ | 4th June 2007

[naturalman1975]

The federal coalition's popularity with voters could be turning around, according to a new poll.

The coalition's primary vote has jumped three percentage points, while Labor's has dropped five, according to a Galaxy poll taken exclusively for The Daily Telegraph at the weekend.

The poll shows Labor still leads the coalition - 53 per cent to 47 per cent on a two-party preferred basis - but it is a significant narrowing of the gap on previous polls.

In May, Labor was at 57 per cent and the coalition at 43 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, while in April the gap was 58 to 42.

According to the poll, while many voters consider Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd a better alternative to Mr Howard, 42 per cent said they were concerned about the influence of trade unions on the Labor party and said interest rates would be likely to rise under a Rudd government.

The survey also shows 40 per cent of voters believe Mr Rudd's team is too inexperienced and 37 per cent thought a Rudd government would run up too much debt.

The poll comes as Mr Howard warned of the threat of one party controlling all levels of government if Mr Rudd wins the election due later this year and follows a wages row involving a company owned by Mr Rudd's wife Therese Rein.

[SandRat]

I’d vote for PM Howard it I could mate!

Unfortunately, we Yanks can’t vote in your election.