Coalition Turns back Recent Labor Gains in Latest Newspoll-News Ltd Survey
Labor slid back to where it was three months ago, trailing the Coalition's wide margin on primary votes and two-party preferred in the latest Newspoll-News Ltd survey conducted late last week.
The primary contest between the government and the opposition again painted a lopsided electoral spar as voters boosted their support for the Liberal-National coalition by four points to push up the party's prime numbers to 45 per cent.
Labor, on the other hand, saw its primary backing tapering down anew by three points to end up at 33 per cent.
On the battlefront for two-party preferred, the Coalition now commands an 8-point edge at 54 per cent against the government's 46 per cent.
The new Newspoll survey further shored up chances of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to easily grab the prime ministership away from Prime Minister Julia Gillard by late 2013 despite strong indications from Aussie voters that the latter is the preferred PM.
Around 43 per cent of those polled eyed Ms Gillard as the anointed prime minister while Mr Abbott only lured 33 per cent, which is coupled with dissatisfaction numbers of 55 per cent, The Australian said.
The publication added that the incumbent PM has a better net satisfaction rating of minus 14 per cent while Mr Abbott remains languishing beyond the negative 20 territory at minus 22 per cent.
But it is the winning party that gets to pick the prime minister and in this case, Ms Gillard's glowing numbers over Mr Abbott will be negated if the Coalition should sustain its momentum through next year.
Labor had hoped to turn the tide in the past few weeks as party frontbenchers intensified their attacks on the Liberal leader, painting him a disconnected prospect for Australia's female electorates owing to his past negative dealings with women of authority.
Cabinet ministers had also attempted to directly link Mr Abbott with the fallout suffered by shock jock Alan Jones, whose controversial remarks about the father of Ms Gillard led to social and political upheavals.
As a result, Mr Jones lost most of the advertising support for his 2GB breakfast program, which luckily for the Coalition was not extended to Mr Abbott, perceived as close ally of the Liberal broadcaster.
The latest survey numbers only proved that Aussie voters have largely rejected the smear campaign spearheaded by Labor against Mr Abbott, deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop told ABC on Tuesday.
For independent MP Tony Windsor, the Coalition would have enjoyed a more stable leadership under the guidance of former Liberal Malcolm Turnbull, who in previous popularity polls has emerged as more charismatic to voters compared to Mr Abbott.
"I think (Mr Turnbull) conducts himself in a better way (than Tony Abbott) . . . I think he represents more of the Liberal Party than some of the other players that have got custody of it at the moment," Mr Windsor was reported by ABC as saying on Tuesday.