New poll shows men deserting Gillard in droves

The numbers just keep getting worse for Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Photo / NZ Herald

The latest poll shows that male voters are deserting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in droves while there is little sign of more women coming on board.

The Fairfax Media/Neilsen poll released today shows Labor's support continues to slide, led entirely by a seven per cent exit of men.

Under the two-party preferred vote, the Coalition romps home 57 per cent (up three points) to 43 per cent (down three points).

Labor's primary vote, which had been in the low 30s, has gone from bad to worse to 29 per cent with the Coalition at 47 per cent - a whopping 18 point lead which would wipe out 35 Labor MPs.

The poll suggests that Ms Gillard's lament that the abortion issue would be a plaything of male politicians under a Coalition government, did not resonate with men.

Ms Gillard's standing as the preferred prime minister also headed south giving her her lowest approval rating in a year - down five points to 41 per cent compared to Opposition leader Tony Abbott's 50 per cent, which is up four points.

When asked who would they vote for if Kevin Rudd was prime minister, suddenly Labor is almost 50-50 chance against the Coalition.

But as pollster John Stirton points out, many of those responding could be rusted-on Liberal voters wanting to cause some ruckus in Labor ranks.

He said said the swing against Labor occurred only among men with Labor's primary vote down seven points among male voters and up only one point among women.

However, if Mr Rudd were running things, the poll shows a major swing back for Labor at 40 per cent with the Coalition at 42 per cent.

Mr Rudd beats Ms Gillard as preferred Labor leader by 58 per cent to 32.

In the Liberal ranks, former leader Malcolm Turnbull is also more popular than Mr Abbott - at 62 to 32 per cent.

- AAP