3 April - 9 April 2012– Issue: 406
Sounds of then
A sunga summer
Remembering Gallipoli, Turkish style
Will you join the revolution?
Wizards of Aus
AFL talent on display in the UK
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VOICES P5
SPORT P14
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LANDSLIDE LOSS LOOMS FOR LABOR AND GILLARD n
Julia Gillard’s government is now at the same level of unpopularity which swept her Queensland Labor colleagues from office and the carbon tax issue is not helping
CABINET MINISTER Greg Combet admits the Gillard government has some convincing to do on the carbon tax as a new opinion poll shows support for Labor has dropped to near-record lows. Its primary vote has slumped seven points to 27 per cent in the latest Nielsen poll, published in Fairfax newspapers around Australia on Monday. After preferences, the coalition leads Labor 57-43 per cent. The poll also shows six out of 10 voters remain opposed to the carbon tax. Only 36 per cent are in favour. Mr Combet admits the government has “plenty of advocacy to do” on the carbon tax, which starts on 1 July. But he says polls aren’t the only driving factor for the government. “You’d be the first to tell us that everything can’t be run by opinion polls,” he told ABC Radio. It was understandable that some voters were concerned, given the tough economic conditions, the opposition’s relentless attacks on Labor and the government’s large reform agenda. “I’m also very confident that the government’s got a good strong reform program that is in the interests of the people that we represent,” Mr Combet said. There were few glimmers of hope for Labor in the poll. While Labor holds a two-party lead of 51-49 per cent in Victoria, that’s four points down on its performance at the 2010 election. Mr Abbott’s disapproval rating is at a record high of 56 per cent.
SOMEBODY THAT THE WORLD NOW KNOWS Kimbra braces for global domination | P8
AUSTRALIA has hailed Burma’s by-elections as a big step forward and now looks likely to further ease its sanctions against the troubled nation. Burma’s long-suffering opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party appear to have won decisive victories in parliamentary polls at the weekend. The veteran activist’s election to political office - after spending most of the last 22 years under house arrest - is the most dramatic signal yet that Burma is serious about democratic reform after decades of strict military rule. Foreign Minister Bob Carr hailed the voting as a substantial step forward. “Some irregularities have been alleged but nothing that would have ...continued on p3
However, he remains ahead of Ms Gillard as preferred prime minister 48 per cent (up one point) to 45 per cent (down a point) with Ms Gillard’s approval rating languishing at 36 per cent. Nielsen pollster John Stirton says the figures probably reflect the negative media coverage Labor received in the wake of the Queensland election that
swept the Liberal National Party to victory a week ago. “Labor are in trouble but I wouldn’t be writing them off,” he told ABC radio on Monday. “I think we need to see the Queensland effect wash out of the numbers before we really know what’s going on.” That could take up to a month.
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Bob Carr hails Burma vote as big step forward
Statistically Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott’s personal ratings were identical, Mr Stirton said. “Tony Abbott’s got his nose ahead as preferred prime minister but again, statistically, they’re tied,” he said. The carbon price’s unpopularity remains at about the same level since ...continued on p3