Poll puts Australia's
Rudd ahead of PMAustralia: Former leader Kevin Rudd basked Tuesday in
the second poll in as many days showing more Australians would prefer
him to head the ruling Labor party than Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
Rudd, who was ousted by Gillard in a brutal and sudden Labor Party
coup last June, has insisted he is not gunning for another shot at the
leadership, but the poll results suggest he is the politician most
people want in the job.
In a three-way Newspoll of 1,511 voters for The Australian newspaper
Tuesday asking who was best to lead Labor, Rudd came top with 36 percent
followed by Gillard on 29 percent.
Just one in 10 voters backed Treasurer Wayne Swan while one in four
refused to nominate a preference.
It followed a Nielsen/Herald survey Monday that showed Rudd, now
foreign minister, led former deputy Gillard 55 percent to 38 percent in
a head-to-head match-up for preferred prime minister.
Gillard played down the findings.
"I don't comment on the polls, and I don't spend much time wondering
about them. Polls come, polls go.
If I spent a lot of time studying polls I wouldn't get anything else
done," she said.
Nevertheless, the polls are the latest to serve as a warning to
Gillard that the electorate is uncertain about its decision to press
ahead with a tax on carbon emissions, a policy the opposition has said
it will reverse if elected.
Despite Gillard floundering, influential Australian Workers Union
national secretary Paul Howes said he continued to back her despite
threatening last week to withdraw support if she could not guarantee
jobs under the carbon tax.
"Julia Gillard is the best leader the Labor Party's had in a very,
very long period of time," Howes, a central figure in the Labor right
faction that anointed Gillard last year, told reporters.
"I'm confident she will lead Labor to an election victory at the next
election. But that doesn't mean I have to support the government on
everything they do."
Gillard leaves Wednesday for a trip to Japan, South Korea and China
before heading to London for the wedding of Prince William and Kate
Middleton.
Sydney, Tuesday, AFP
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