Federal Government in strife on the carbon tax

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Labor support slumps to lowest level

Labor's primary vote has plunged to a record low 30 per cent on the back of its proposed carbon tax.

The latest opinion poll shows the writing is on the wall for Prime Minister Julia Gillard with support plunging for the Labor leader, who is in the US. Picture: Alex Brandon/AP Photo Source: AP

A Newspoll published in The Australian today shows primary support for the Government has fallen to 30 per cent, while the Prime Minister's lead over Tony Abbott as preferred prime minster is down 13 points since February.

The drop in the government's primary vote is below the 31 per cent record low when Paul Keating was prime minister in 1993.

If an election were held today, Labor would suffer a 54-46 two-party-preferred loss.

Last night Mr Abbott told a Future SA dinner at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre regardless of when the next election was held, the carbon tax would be the big issue.

"The Coalition will oppose it in opposition and rescind it in government, as we will the mining tax and as we would the flood tax were it still in place," he said.

"There will be no carbon tax under the Coalition. It doesn't get more certain than that.

"This new tax is designed to change your way of life. This new tax is designed to change the way our economy works.

"On her own admission, the Prime Minister always wanted to impose a carbon price. She just didn't want to justify it to the electorate in an election campaign.''

Labor's poor numbers in the latest Newspoll show the debate on a carbon tax is tough, not that voters reject the measure outright, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.

Mr Swan, acting prime minister while Julia Gillard is in the United States, said fundamental reforms were always hard fought and this would be no different.

He said this would be a long debate, but one Labor could win.

"We are not doing this because it is easy, we are not doing it because it is popular, we are doing it because it is the right thing for the country," he told ABC Radio.

"We always thought this would be a hard debate.

"What they (the polls) show is that it's a really tough debate."

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said Australians understood how important it was to tackle climate change.

"We had an option to either move forward on this or stand still and say it's all too difficult," he told the ABC.

"We've chosen the former."

Labor's coalition partners, the Greens, have taken a similar hit with its primary vote dropping two points to flat-line at just 10 per cent.

The shock result on national support for a carbon tax suggests a failure so far by either party to make their case.

But Australians also delivered their verdict on the rural independents and their power sharing deal with the Greens and Federal Labor, with 41 per cent claiming their hold on the balance of power was "bad" for the country.

Only 27 per cent believed the hung Parliament had been good.

The bad news comes before the PM's address to the US Congress and a meeting with Barack Obama.

The slide in support for Gillard Labor, now down to a disastrous primary vote of 36 per cent, came with a Coalition surge, its primary vote rising two points to 47 per cent.

Yesterday's weekly poll of more than 1000 people by the Labor leaning Essential Media Communications, was released on the day the Federal Government's former climate change tsar took over the keys to the Treasury.

Now trying to shape a bad news Budget, the former secretary of the Climate Change Department Martin Parkinson will also be responsible for helping draft the carbon tax package to go into effect in July 2012.

Mr Parkinson officially took over from retiring Treasury Secretary Ken Henry yesterday.

The poll showed 48 per cent opposed to a carbon tax to tackle climate change with almost 20 per cent saying they did not know.

However, in a worrying sign for Ms Gillard, only 35 per cent supported it.

Tasmania's Labor Premier Lara Giddings also delivered a blow to the PM's attempts to sell the need for a tax, admitting the cost of living would rise.

"You'd have to have your head in the sand if you said there aren't going to be cost of living increases," she said.

Yesterday's poll showed on a two party preferred vote of 53/47 per cent in favour of the Coalition that if an election were held tomorrow the Coalition would be able to govern with a healthy majority.