(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - As Australians prepare to vote in a legislative ballot this month, the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) is maintaining its place at the top of the political spectrum, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 48 per cent of respondents would vote for the ALP in the election to the House of Representatives, while 40 per cent would back the governing Coalition of Liberals and Nationals.

The ALP has gained a point in a week, while the Coalition lost two points. The Australian Greens are third with six per cent. Australia’s preferential voting system—where electors indicate an order of predilection for each contender, and the ballots from smaller parties are re-distributed—gives the ALP a 10-point lead over the Coalition.

In the October 2004 election, Howard was rewarded with a fourth term in office, as the Coalition secured 87 seats in the House of Representatives. The ALP—led by Mark Latham—elected 60 lawmakers. In December 2006, foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd became the new leader of the ALP, defeating Kim Beazley in an internal caucus ballot.

On Nov. 13, Greens senator Bob Brown urged Rudd to include strict environmental goals in the ALP’s list of priorities, and said voters are paying close attention to each party’s ideas to curb pollution. Brown added: "Let’s have a 30 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases over 1990 by 2020."

A legislative election is scheduled for Nov. 24.

Polling Data

If a federal election to the House of Representatives were held today, which one of the following would you vote for? If "Uncommitted", to which one of these do you have a leaning?

Two-Party Preferred Vote

Source: Newspoll / The Australian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,694 Australian voters, conducted from Nov. 9 to Nov. 11, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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