Australian Labor Party's primary vote slumps: Newspoll

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CANBERRA, Aug. 12-- Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Labor Party are going backwards in the ongoing election campaign as the Coalition's primary vote continues to rise and the opposition leader Tony Abbott's personal approval also rises, the latest Newspoll showed on Monday.

According to the Newspoll, conducted for The Australian on the weekend, the Coalition's primary vote support of 46 percent, up two percentage points in the past week, is at a three-month high. And Labor's 35 percent, down two points since the beginning of the formal campaign last week, is back to where it was when Kevin Rudd removed Julia Gillard as leader.

And the findings showed that 54 percent of voters expect the Coalition to win the election while 26 percent think Labor will win.

Kevin Rudd's satisfaction rate was 39 percent, up from 38 percent last week, and dissatisfaction was at 48 percent, up one point from 47 percent last week, his highest since the leadership change.

And Rudd's net satisfaction rating -- the difference between satisfaction and dissatisfaction -- was steady at minus 9, but Tony Abbott's net satisfaction rating improved from minus 20 a week ago to minus 14.

On the question of who would make the better prime minister, Kevin Rudd maintained a lead over Tony Abbott with his support of 46 percent, down from 47 percent last week, compared with Abbott's 37 percent, up four points since last week.

Voter approval has risen markedly for Abbott, his satisfaction rising four percentage points to 38 percent, his highest since March this year after Julia Gillard nominated September 14 as the election date, as dissatisfaction fell six points to 52 percent, according to the Newspoll.

Kevin Rudd said earlier Sunday that Labor was the "underdog" for the September 7 election, admitting that if an election were held last Saturday, "Mr. Abbott would be the prime minister."

The first televised debate of the 2013 Federal election campaign between Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott was held at the National Press Club in Canberra on Sunday night. That debate had a heavy emphasis on the economy and who could be trusted to best manage it. On Monday morning Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott were back on the campaign trail after both claiming victory in the first election debate.

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