(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Most Australians believe Kevin Rudd is the best choice for the country’s top political job, according to a poll by Essential Research. 51 per cent of respondents would prefer to have the Australian Labor Party (ALP) leader as prime minister.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Most Australians believe Kevin Rudd is the best choice for the country’s top political job, according to a poll by Essential Research. 51 per cent of respondents would prefer to have the Australian Labor Party (ALP) leader as prime minister.
In addition, 25 per cent of respondents would rather have Liberal leader Tony Abbott as head of government, while 24 per cent have no opinion.
Australia held a federal election in November 2007. Final results gave the ALP 85 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives. ALP leader Rudd was officially sworn in as prime minister in December, bringing an end to the 11-year tenure of Liberal leader John Howard as head of Australia’s government.
Howard failed to retain his seat in the Bennelong constituency and stepped down as Liberal leader. Since their electoral defeat in 2007, the Liberals have had three different leaders: former defence minister Brendan Nelson, former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull, and former health minister Abbott, who defeated Turnbull in an internal leadership ballot by just one vote on Dec. 1.
On Dec. 30, Abbott criticized the current prime minister’s policies on asylum-seekers, saying, "If the circumstances permit it, you’ve got to be prepared to turn boats around. John Howard was fiercely criticized for this. Nevertheless, Kevin Rudd said he would be more than tough enough to turn boats around were he prime minister, but he singularly failed to show any steel whatsoever since becoming our leader."
Polling Data
Who do you think would be the better Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott?
|
Kevin Rudd |
51% |
|
Tony Abbott |
25% |
|
No opinion |
24% |
Source: Essential Research
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,033 Australian adults, conducted from Dec. 14 to Dec. 20, 2009. No margin of error was provided.
