http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/15656386/swan-brands-abbott-a-thug-af...


Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan has branded Tony Abbott "a thug" after a new opinion poll showed the Liberal leader's standing with voters was second-worst in the party's history.

Mr Abbott's disapproval rating hit 63 per cent in the Nielsen poll published on Monday, just nine points shy of Andrew Peacock's rating of 72 per cent recorded in October 1984.

The result has been linked to the opposition's pursuit of Prime Minister Julia Gillard over some minor legal work she did pro-bono for two Australian Workers' Union officials 20 years ago.

But the poll published by Fairfax Media also put the coalition ahead of Labor by 52-48 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, an election-winning lead.

Mr Swan was "very confident" Labor could still win the 2013 election, due by November next year.

"We've got a prime minister who is tough as teeth, a prime minister who has ideas for the future," he told reporters in Canberra.

"We've got an opposition leader who is a policy weakling and ... a thug when it comes to personal attacks."

Nielsen director John Stirton said Mr Abbott's handling of the AWU matter had not helped his position and may be part of the reason his approval had further declined.

The poll found 64 per cent of respondents did not approve of the way Mr Abbott had dealt with the issue.

Ms Gillard remained preferred prime minister, leading Mr Abbott 50-40 per cent.

But overall, the poll showed support for both the major parties was largely unaffected by the fallout over the AWU issue and the headlines surrounding former Speaker Peter Slipper.

Labor's primary vote, which has been at 34 per cent for the past three months, was at 35 per cent while the coalition's fell two points to 43 per cent and the Greens fell two points to 10 per cent.

Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham said Labor would throw "all the lies" it could at Mr Abbott in a bid to win the next election.

He noted the coalition had enjoyed a clear lead in 119 of the 124 opinion polls since the 2010 election.

"I'd much rather be in our position than in the government's position," Senator Birmingham said.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the polls showed the AWU affair had left the opposition looking foolish.

"Mr Abbott and his deputy Julie Bishop made a number of defamatory and unsubstantiated allegations and they look like fools," he told reporters in Sydney.

"It's not the sort of politics Australian people want to see."

Mr Combet said he believed there was still time for the government to reverse the poll figures and seize victory at next year's election.

"We're bringing the budget back to surplus, there are good economic conditions here and we're also making major reforms," he said.

No, there's a lot of mud, coming from both Liberal & Labor AND FRANKLY IT'S SICKENING our way of life & it's got to STOP!!!

Maqqa wrote on Dec 17^th, 2012 at 10:52am:


So true Maqqa. We conservatives play the ball, we'll leave it to the lefties to play the man.

That big oaf Dreyfus (you know the one who compared Abbott to a Nazi criminal) repeated the line again this morning that Abbott HATES women. Disgusting and vile attacks, showing that Labor has nothing but sleaze and smear.

I hope that the 55-45 essential poll brings them some comfort. 

Maqqa wrote on Dec 17^th, 2012 at 10:52am:


Facts are, elections are held approximately every 3 years, and not when some moron from the right dares the PM to hold an election ...

and no one cares what the polls have been saying for the past 18months ... come next election they won't mean anything.

matty wrote on Dec 17^th, 2012 at 1:22pm:


So true Maqqa. We conservatives play the ball, we'll leave it to the lefties to play the man.

Can't get less honest than that one!

The Liberals were playing Rudd with ute gate.

They played slipper

They played Thomson

They played Gillard.

The lieberals have only not played the man when they had the opportunity to play the woman instead.

perceptions_now wrote on Dec 17^th, 2012 at 11:18am:



CRAP you love every minute of it... isnt it better than talking about

OUR DEBT BIGGEST IN HISTORY..

BOAT PEOPLE SWAN CLAIMED WE WOULD GET 450 A MONTH AND LOOK WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GETTING..IN THREE MONTHS 6000


CAN THEY COUNT DOWN AT TREASURY?????


I dont think so..



SO LETS TALK SLEAZE... ITS A LOT EASIER.

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AND FED LABOR CANNOT WAIT TO RUSH THEM INTO FED PARLIAMENT...

when they are spit out in NSW.

skippy. wrote on Dec 17^th, 2012 at 5:12pm:


Rudd had better numbers than Gillard - you do the sums plankton