Gillard leads Abbott as preferred PM

Another opinion poll has given a tick for the Julia Gillard-led Labor government that puts it in a strong position to retain power at an election in coming months.

The weekly Essential Research online poll found 54 per cent backing Labor to win an election, up two points from last week, while the Liberal/National was down two points to 46 per cent.

Ms Gillard scored 49 per cent as making a better prime minister than Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who was supported by 29 per cent of the survey.

This was the third poll in as many days that put Labor in a strong electoral position after Kevin Rudd stood down from the top job last week and Ms Gillard was elected unopposed.

The survey found 47 per cent approving of Ms Gillard replacing Mr Rudd, while 40 per cent disapproved.

Twenty-six per cent said they were more likely to vote Labor having Ms Gillard as leader, compared with 24 per cent who said they were less likely and 41 per cent who said it made no difference.

On Mr Abbott, 40 per cent of respondents said they approved of the job he was doing as opposition leader, while 39 per cent disapproved.

This was an improvement from his 35 per cent approval rating when the question was asked in May, and comfortably above the 25 per cent approval rating of former Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull last November.

As for the timing of the election, 41 per cent think the election should be held towards the end of the year, 28 per cent think it should be in the next two to three months, and 21 per cent said early next year.

The government can call an election for April next year at the latest.

The final stumbling block for Mr Rudd appeared to be his handling of the government's planned resource super profits tax (RSPT).

Thirty-five per cent said the government should compromise a little and make minor changes to the RSPT, while 26 per cent said there should be a major overhaul.

Only 11 per cent said the tax should proceed as planned, while 14 per cent it should not proceed in any form.

Still, 55 per cent approved of Mr Rudd's paid parental leave that provides parents with 18 months of paid leave at the minimum wage, compared with 33 per cent that disapproved.

The overall survey was obtained from 996 respondents, while the three questions specifically about Ms Gillard were added later to the survey on a sample of 818.

Meanwhile, Julia Gillard is also leading Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister and has given the ALP a chance of winning the election, according to the latest Newspoll.

According to the poll, published in The Australian newspaper on Monday, the Labor government has returned to the levels of support it had before Kevin Rudd's popularity crashed in April.

The poll was the first since Ms Gillard was elected prime minister, and was conducted during the first three days of her leadership.

It shows Labor's primary vote has jumped seven percentage points from 35 per cent the weekend before Mr Rudd was removed to 42 per cent.

The Coalition's primary vote support was unchanged on 40 per cent, but the Greens' vote fell back five points to ten per cent.

On a two-party preferred basis, Labor is leading on 53 per cent while the Coalition is on 47 per cent - exactly as it was at the 2007 election.

On the question of who would make the better prime minister, 53 per cent of voters opted for Ms Gillard, compared to 29 per cent who preferred Mr Abbott.

The weekend before Mr Rudd was replaced by Ms Gillard, Mr Abbott's support as preferred prime minister was at 37 per cent, while Mr Rudd's was 46 per cent.

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