Australia's opposition has regained the lead over Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's government, with 52 percent of respondents in an opinion poll published Saturday saying they will support the coalition in the Sept. 7 national election.
The ruling Labor Party had a 48 percent share of the final two-party preferred vote in the poll of 1,400 people, conducted Aug. 6 to 8 by Nielsen and published in Fairfax Media Ltd. newspapers. It was the first national poll to be conducted since Rudd kicked off a five-week election campaign last Sunday.
The Liberal-National coalition led by Tony Abbott was preferred for its ability to steer the economy by 56 percent of those polled, against 36 percent for the government, rising from a 52 percent to 41 percent lead in the previous survey.