May 13, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) fell this month, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 47 per cent of respondents would vote for the governing party in the next legislative election, down four points since mid-April.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) fell this month, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 47 per cent of respondents would vote for the governing party in the next legislative election, down four points since mid-April.

The Coalition of Liberals and Nationals is second with 37 per cent, followed by the Australian Greens with nine 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 14-point lead over the Coalition.

Australia held a federal election in November 2007. Final results gave the ALP 85 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives. ALP leader Kevin 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. Brendan Nelson—a former defence minister—defeated former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull in an internal leadership ballot by just three votes.

Today, treasurer Wayne Swan presented the government’s budget. Rudd discussed the document, saying, "It is a good Labor budget that is consistent with meeting the commitments that we made prior to the election last year." Swan declared: "It will be a tough budget but we have tried hard to insulate working people who are under pressure from the cuts that will be made."

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?

	May 4	Apr. 20	Apr. 6
Australian Labor Party	47%	51%	48%
Coalition (Liberal / National)	37%	34%	35%
Australian Greens	9%	9%	10%
Others	7%	6%	7%

Two-Party Preferred Vote

	May 4	Apr. 20	Apr. 6
Australian Labor Party	57%	61%	59%
Coalition (Liberal / National)	43%	39%	41%

Source: Newspoll / The Australian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,131 Australian voters, conducted from May 2 to May 4, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.