(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Despite a slight drop, most people in Australia are content with their prime minister’s performance, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 63 per cent of respondents are satisfied with Kevin Rudd’s job, down five points since early May.

Australia held a federal election in November 2007. Final results gave Rudd’s Australian Labor Party (ALP) 85 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives. 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. 37 per cent of respondents are satisfied with Nelson’s performance.

In the preferred prime minister category, 70 per cent of respondents choose Rudd, while 12 per cent pick Nelson as head of government.

On May 27, Nelson attacked the government’s Fuel Watch program—an initiative to monitor the rising cost of fuel and its impact on the economy—saying that Rudd should "stop watching" oil prices and start lowering them instead. Nelson introduced a censure motion against the head of government, declaring, "What Australians need most is a prime minister who doesn’t give up when the going gets tough and delivers on his promise to bring down the cost of petrol. This house censures the prime minister for letting down Australians struggling to make ends meet with the rising cost of petrol."

Polling Data

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Kevin Rudd is doing his job as prime minister?

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Brendan Nelson is doing his job as leader of the opposition?

Who do you think would make the better prime minister?

Source: Newspoll / The Australian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,141 Australian voters, conducted from May 16 to May 18, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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