Youth voters are bucking the national trend shown in this month’s Nielsen poll of rising support for Kevin Rudd.
The poll of 1,400 voters after last month’s leadership spill indicated popular support for Mr Rudd as Labor leader 51% to Gillard’s 48%, but canvassing in the Melbourne CBD reduced that to 36% as preferred Labor leader.
Prime Minister Gillard also lost ground moving down to 31%, with embattled MP Simon Crean and Employment Minister Bill Shorten both being tapped by the public as favoured alternatives.
[poll id=”29″]Rohan Wenn, a spokesperson for activist and voter advocacy group GetUp! pointed to the opaque nature of the Labor caucus as reason for voter’s losing faith in Ms Gillard.
“Politics should not be conducted behind closed doors,” he said.
Mr Wenn said that while last week was damaging to the Labor Party’s prospects so close to election, “Leadership tension is nothing new.”
“The difference here is that a lot more politicians are on Twitter and this is a situation where voters can talk to each other.”
Dr. Phillip Dearman, a lecturer at the Politics department at RMIT University, agreed on this point, accusing the unflinching media focus on the government’s every move as making mountains out of molehills.
“We shouldn’t blow this up into a complete power struggle,” he said. “I’m wondering when people are going to start talking about things that matter, that are accessible and productive. Because opinion polls and flash stories about leadership aren’t productive.”
Dr. Dearman also downplayed the recent Cabinet reshuffule, underlining Climate Change Minister Greg Combet’s comments that it was not a result of sacking members, but of several ministers resigning of their own accord.
“The Labor government has a lot of soul-searching to do to the degree to which they value Cabinet process,” he said. “Cabinet leaks undermind the decision-making process.”
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott continues to gain ground in Nielsen polls, holding a 6% lead over the Prime Minister 49-43.
Speaking to recent polling that indicates youth voters disagreeing with Nielsen’s assessment of Mr Abbott’s popularity, Mr Wenn suggested that Mr Abbot may be ‘too hostile to progressive issues’ to capture the youth vote.
‘Abbott as a leader will ultimately prove a liability [to youth voters],’ he said, referring to young, conservative voters who indicated difficulty in voting for an Abbott-led Liberal Party.
Greens Leader Christine Milne, speaking at a press conference on March 21, was critical of both major parties, but explicitly stated that the Greens would not give “a single moment of comfort to Tony Abbott”.
Senator Milne implored all progressive-minded voters to support the Greens in the coming election if it wanted the promises on Newstart and public school funding made by the Gillard government to be delivered on.
Ms Gillard’s popularity held steadily across both Nielsen polling and among youth voters.
