Australian Prime Julia Gillard has the Qantas crisis and the G20 Summit to thank for lifting her sagging popularity. Latest survey made by Newspoll released on Tuesday shows that Labor got a 47 per cent rating, up by 1 per cent, while the coalition lost 1 per cent.

However, despite the improvement in popularity boosted by Labor's handling of the aviation crisis as well as Ms Gillard attending the Group of 20 meeting in Cannes and her chairing the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the coalition is still the party to beat if an election were to be held now.

In spite of the improvement in Labor's rating and the reverse for the Opposition, the coalition still leads with 53 per cent approval. However, another ace in Ms Gillard's favor is the growing voter dissatisfaction with Opposition leader Tony Abbott.

Mr Abbott's dissatisfaction rating hit a record high of 57 per cent. Combined with his 34 per cent satisfaction rating, Mr Abbott secured a net dissatisfaction rate of 23 per cent. Political observers attribute this to his strong opposition to Labor's carbon tax and mineral resources rent tax proposal.

In comparison, Ms Gillard secured a higher 60 per cent dissatisfaction rate, but also got a higher 30 per cent satisfaction rate, giving the prime minister a 30 per cent net dissatisfaction rate.

Although higher than Mr Abbott's net dissatisfaction rate, it is a significant improvement for Ms Gillard who reached a 45 per cent net dissatisfaction rate in early September.

Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan said the improvement in poll standing of the government is a reflection of the tough decisions that Labor has to make for the long term.

"We are going to continue to make the right decisions for the country, irrespective of what the opinion polls says in any particular week," News.com.au quoted Mr Swan.

MP Craig Emerson added that while Australians may appreciate Mr Abbott as the best opposition leader that the country ever had because of his tough stand on issues, "You need more than that if you are going to be a serious candidate."