Gillard leads Abbott in Aussie PM poll

Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Photo / Getty Images

It hasn't taken Julia Gillard long to turn things around.

Australia's brand-new PM is leading her Liberal Party counterpart Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister and has even given the ALP a chance of winning the election, the latest Newspoll shows.

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

The poll is 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.

- AAP