Australian political parties draw at 50-50 in Newspoll

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has increased her lead over Opposition Leader Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister, after forming government following the deadlocked Aug. 21 general election, the latest Newspoll showed on Tuesday.

According to the poll released by The Australian newspaper on Tuesday, Gillard's Labor Party and the opposition Liberal-National coalition are tied at 50-50 on a two-party measure.

Labor's primary vote stands at 35 percent, up one point from the last Newspoll, while the coalition's primary vote had also risen one percentage point, to 42 percent.

Gillard has 52 percent support as preferred prime minister, up two points from a poll four weeks ago, compared to 31 percent for Abbott, down three points.

Voter satisfaction for the Opposition leader has fallen dramatically from the last survey, conducted on Sept. 10-12, when Abbott had 48 percent of the vote.

His satisfaction rating is now 39 percent, while his dissatisfaction rating increased from 38 percent to 47 percent over the same period.

The poll also found that the percentage of voters satisfied with Gillard's performance increased from 44 to 48 percent, while her dissatisfaction rating fell from 36 to 33 percent.

Labor Party won 50.1 percent of the two-party preferred vote at the Aug. 21 general election, and it had to gain the support of cross-benchers to form a minority government.

Source: Xinhua