Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's popularity drops to a record low -- a net approval rating of minus 45 per cent -- in an opinion survey released Tuesday.

Gillard's predecessor, Kevin Rudd, leads her by more than 30 percentage points as a preferred PM. Newspoll also shows Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister over Gillard for the sixth survey in a row.

Abbott rose four points to 43 per cent, while Gillard dropped four points to 34, the lowest rating of any prime minister since Labor's Paul Keating in the 1990s. This means almost 70 per cent of respondents were dissatisfied with Gillard's performance. Meanwhile, this is Abbott's highest rating.

The latest poll results prompted Newspoll CEO Martin O'Shannessy to say Labor would lose as many as 40 seats if an election was held today.

"That would displace nine ministers," he said in a statement.

"Maybe two-thirds [of the 40-seat figure] is more likely but that would still be devastating for Labor, losing 30 seats, taking them down to somewhere around 44 or less in a 150-seat parliament," O'Shannessy noted.

Political analysts remark that Gillard should be comforted with the fact that the next general election is not due until 2013.

While Gillard has been PM for less than a year, she has been heavily criticized over her plans for new taxes and for dealing with asylum seekers.

The Newspoll survey was conducted just last weekend after a court dismissed Gillard's policy of sending asylum seekers to Malaysia.

Meanwhile, after the Cabinet discussed Monday night the possibility of reviving Labor's asylum seeker policy, Greg Combet expressed support for Gillard over ABC's "Q&A" program.

"People don't see this when times are tough, but she's a decent person," he said. "She's a person who does have Labor values, and she's tough."

On Tuesday morning, Gillard's deputy Wayne Swan also affirmed his solid support for the prime minister.

"I don't think anybody would be surprised with the opinion polls we've seen today given the last couple of weeks that we've had," he said.

"Julia Gillard is doing the hard yards. She's got the long-term national interest to the very forefront of her and the government's policy agenda. And we're going to fight for it.

"Julia Gillard and I didn't get into politics to shirk the hard decisions."

Gillard is scheduled to fly to New Zealand Tuesday for the Pacific Islands Forum, where climate change will be a leading topic.

Pacific Island leaders are set to respond to the possibility of sea level rises. The forum is their chance to discuss aid and assistance from developed countries.