Surge for Greens, as Abbott rides high


AAP

A surge in support for the Australian Greens has narrowed the poll gap between Labor and the coalition, as Tony Abbott scored some free advice to be more positive.

With Prime Minister Julia Gillard making the rounds of forums being held in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Mr Abbott was at Flemington casting his eye over Melbourne Cup preparations.

While the coalition retains an election-winning lead, according to the latest Newspoll, Mr Abbott’s satisfaction rating has dipped two points to 34 per cent, and dissatisfaction with him has risen two points to 55 per cent.

And his lead as preferred prime minister has dropped to 39-36, a gap within the poll’s margin of error.

Mr Abbott received some unsolicited advice from champion trainer Gai Waterhouse, who spotted him freezing in the stands at Flemington early on Tuesday morning and gave him a coat to wear.

“See, you should have me onside – look how positive I am,” she said.

“This is what you need, Tony. You need some real positive stuff, the Liberals.”

The Newspoll showed the Greens’ stocks up three points to 15 per cent – one point shy of their highest rating, seen in May 2010.

The boost narrowed the two-party preferred gap between Labor and the coalition to 46-54, but Labor’s primary vote remained unchanged at 29 per cent.

Ms Gillard’s personal standing rose three points to 31 per cent.

But her dissatisfaction rating stood at 61 per cent as the carbon tax remained unpopular, with 59 per cent opposed to it.

Labor has been unable to shift opinion on the carbon pricing scheme since its broad details were announced in March.

Mr Abbott said the tax was “toxic” and voters understood this.

The past fortnight included a standoff with the coalition over laws to shore up Labor’s Malaysia solution, which has left the government with an onshore detention policy – the Greens’ preferred option.

Ms Gillard said the government would “appropriately manage Australia’s borders and our detention system in a way that protects our borders and also protects our values of compassion”.

Greens leader Bob Brown linked the poll jump to conservative voters upset with the Liberals’ asylum seeker policy.

“There’s a lot of conservative voters who hate incarcerating decent human beings and want Australia to do the decent thing by asylum seekers and uphold international law,” Senator Brown told AAP.

“When it comes to the carbon issue, people are concerned about the future, but there’s a huge campaign being waged by vested interests and the Liberals.”

Meanwhile, another poll showed voters were disenchanted with the quality and direction of the federal government.

The latest Australian National University poll showed the economy remained the number one issue for voters, and concern over immigration had dipped to third.

But Professor John Wanna, from the ANU, said those who mentioned “better government” as a problem rose from nine per cent to 18 per cent since the previous poll in May, and the figure was up 13 points since March 2010.

“I don’t think that automatically means people think the opposition knows what is going on, (but) there’s a general feeling that there’s a malaise across the political system that nobody seems to have answers,” he said.

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