Fed: Labor takes post-budget poll hit
18 May 2009 1:23 AM
MELBOURNE, May 18 AAP - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's approval rating has slumped by 10 points in a new opinion poll taken after the federal budget last week.
The Nielsen poll, published in Fairfax newspapers on Monday, shows Mr Rudd's approval rating at 64 per cent - 10 percentage points lower than the previous poll, in late March.
Mr Rudd's disapproval rating is up 10 points to 32 per cent.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull's approval and disapproval ratings remain steady at 43 and 47 per cent respectively.
Mr Rudd's rating as preferred prime minister is down five points to 64 per cent while Mr Turnbull's has risen four points to 28 per cent.
The poll shows the coalition's primary vote has increased six points since March, while Labor's has fallen by three points.
That result puts Labor only one point ahead of the coalition on primaries, 44 per cent to 43, the best result for the coalition in the Nielsen poll since the 2007 federal election.
Labor's two-party-preferred vote is down five points, leaving it ahead of the coalition by 53 per cent to 47.
The national poll of 1,400 people was taken from Thursday to Saturday.
It also found 38 per cent of respondents said they will be worse off because of the budget, eight points more than for last year's budget, while 23 per cent said they would be better off (down eight points on last year).
The budget was seen as fair by 56 per cent, down one point on last year's result. Sixty-two per cent were satisfied with it (down four points on last year).
Fifty-two per cent found the budget was responsible but 38 per cent said it was not.
