PM Rudd Brings Down Single Mother Cut

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced on Monday night that the Australian Labor Party will bring down ousted prime minister Julia Gillard's budget cut on single mothers, that is, when elected in the coming Sept 7 election.

During Ms Gillard's term, single mothers received reallocation from Newstart Allowance once their youngest child reached the age of eight. The said policy had left single mothers $60 to $100 poorer. Ms Gillard said that the policy was a solution to save taxpayers $728 million over four years.

Mr Rudd made his announcement in Gladstone.

"I believe this is something that needs to be attended to as soon as budget circumstances permit. For me, if the government is returned, that is a priority. A lot of folks out there are doing it tough. I have long believed that as our budgetary circumstances permit, we need to provide more support there. I'm very uncomfortable with where we are now . . . I believe as soon as the budget opens up that amount of space to deal with that challenge, we should act, Mr Rudd said.

However, opposition families spokesman Kevin Andrews said that voters should judge Mr Rudd and the Australian Labor Party according to what they did in the last six years and not in the last six days before the election.

Rudd Slams Bible for Anti Same-sex Marriage

Mr Rudd proved his wits as he engaged himself into a feisty theological discussion with a Brisbane pastor over the issue on gay marriage during an ABC QA television show.

"If you call yourself a Christian why don't you believe the words of Jesus in the Bible?" Pastor Matt Prater asked.

The audience applauded for Mr Rudd's feisty answer.

"Well mate, if I was going to have that view, the Bible also says that slavery is a natural condition. St Paul said in the New Testament, Slaves be obedient to your masters. Therefore we should have all fought for the Confederacy in the US civil war? For goodness' sake. If you think homosexuality is an unnatural condition then, frankly, I cannot agree with you."

PM Rudd Failed to Uplift Support from Queensland

According to the latest Fairfax-Nielsen Polls, Mr Rudd's return to the prime minister seat had failed to uplift support for the Australian Labor Party at Queensland. The poll revealed that Labor lagged behind after Liberal National Party at 47 per cent while LNP got 53 per cent.

The poll, conducted with 1,014 respondents in Queensland on Aug 31 to Sept 1, showed that was improbable for Labor to pick up its losses in other states with their failure to obtain significant support from Queensland.

The majority of the Queensland voters now remained unimpressed about Mr Rudd's performance. His disapproval rating is at 50 per cent as compared to his previous 45 per cent. This figures got him a net approval rating of negative 5.

As for his rival Tony Abbott, he had obtained a net approval rating of 1 per cent. The poll also revealed that his party is now ahead on economic competency. Mr Abbott was also the more trusted candidate by voters at 43 per cent as compared to Mr Rudd at 39 per cent.