(Australian Prime Minister) Labor leader has lost public's faith

The Australian ^ | 11th October 2011 | Dennis Shanahan

[naturalman1975]

LABOR may have finally bounced off rock bottom but Australia's oldest political party and its leader are still facing a historic loss of public confidence and electoral failure.

A three-point rise in the Newspoll primary vote for the ALP has avoided the unthinkable for the Gillard government of going to 25 per cent or below to have less support than the combined vote for the Greens and various odds and sods, but the broader view of this survey of public opinion about Labor - as well as the personal standing of Julia Gillard - is devastating. The electorate has not only stopped listening to Labor but rejected it on every front.

As the Prime Minister prepares to put herself on the line tomorrow and Thursday for the carbon tax and her Malaysia Solution for asylum-seekers, it is clear Labor's priorities are not where voters think they should be.

What's more, not only is Labor using huge capital to fight for areas of least concern; it is also losing the battle comprehensively.

It is now clear voters have no faith in this government in a political or policy sense and the Prime Minister cannot claim positive attention.

For the first time, the Coalition is either statistically equal to Labor or well in front on every key electoral issue. This goes beyond the toxic carbon tax, which has been poison for Labor and Gillard, and the confused and contradictory signals on processing of asylum-seekers to Labor's heartland issues.

As the so-called "negative" Opposition Leader continues to dominate the incumbent prime minister as preferred leader, Labor has lost its long-held ascendancy on health and education policies.

[dfwgator]

Bring back John Howard.

[naturalman1975]

Unfortunately, I think he is enjoying retirement too much - and I think he’s entitled to (and so is his wife and she definitely is!)