Polls indicate a Coalition victory if elections were held now. The Nielsen poll said the Opposition got 57 per cent of votes compared to Labor's 43 per cent in a two-party vote.

The results indicate near-record low levels of support for the Australian Labor Party after the Queensland election. The poll of 1,400 voters said that Labor's primary vote went down 7 per cent in a month to 27 per cent, while the Coalition's primary vote went up 3 points to 47 per cent.

"It shows that Julia Gillard, who seemed to be getting some traction in late February when Labor's primary vote rose to 34 per cent, is back in disaster territory," News.com.au quoted Fairfax.

John Stirton, Nielsen pollster, said the recent spate of bad publicity for ALP after the party lost heavily in the Queensland election is the likely cause of Labor's dipping popularity. However, he added that more polls are needed to confirm if the damage to Labor's popularity is long-term.

Since the 2010 election, it is Labor's sixth time in the primary vote to get below 30 per cent approval rating.

On an individual basis, Mr Abbott got a rating of 45 per cent, lower higher than Prime Minister Julia Gillard who logged a rating of 45 per cent as preferred prime minister.

Her approval rating was steady at 38 per cent and disapproval rating even slightly decreased to 59 per cent, while Mr Abbott's approval rating declined 2 points to 39 per cent and disapproval rating also a steady at 58 per cent.

As economic manager, the Coalition held the lead with a 57 per cent approval rating versus Labor's 36 per cent.

The poll also said that the planned cut in company tax to 29 per cent from 30 per cent got a 53 per cent support from the survey respondents. The measure is supposed to be funded by the mining tax which the Coalition opposed.

However, the other tax measure - the carbon tax - was opposed by 60 per cent of voters. Even among ALP voters, one third was against the measure considered the Labor party's signature reform.

Scheduled to be collected beginning July 1, the carbon tax was also cited by employers as a reason to limit pay increase for minimum wage workers because they will be overcompensated with the new carbon tax.

The Australian Industry Group asked Fair Work Australia to restrict the next pay increase in minimum wage to $14 a week, below the inflation rate. The Australian Confederation of Trade Unions is asking for a $26 weekly salary hike.

Based on the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, the average cost of the carbon tax on households would be $9.90 a week in 2012-13, while the average benefit from tax and transfer charges would be $10.10. The AI Group pointed out that the lower-income households will receive increases in real disposable income as a result of the carbon tax.

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