Kevin Rudd's rating as preferred prime minister has hit a new low and his personal approval rating has also tumbled but the latest opinion poll shows his government's public hospitals reform package is a hit with voters.
According to today's Fairfax/Nielsen poll, 57 per cent of those polled prefer Mr Rudd as PM, down one percentage point on the previous poll, while Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's rate climbed four points to 35 per cent.
Mr Rudd's personal approval rating is down three points to 57 per cent, his lowest since the 2007 election, while Mr Abbott's has climbed six points to 50 per cent, a 15 month-high for an opposition leader.
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In two party terms, Labor still leads the Coalition 53-47 per cent, down from 54-46 last month.
More than two-thirds of the population believe Labor will win the next election 68 per cent compared to 22 per cent who back the coalition.
Meanwhile, a whopping 79 per cent of those polled support the government's proposed hospitals overhaul.
Earlier the government vowed its big health reform wouldn't lead to bigger GST, but is still under attack for failing to rule out income tax increases.
The government is still out selling its plan to overhaul the nation's hospitals by upping federal funding and wresting some control from the states.
But with little more than a month to win approval, it's facing an uphill battle, with recalcitrant states and territories demanding more information before they sign on.
The opposition has also seized on the criticisms, telling Australians to be worried that they'll eventually have to fork out for the reform package.
Meanwhile in Victoria, where Premier John Brumby has led the states' attack on Mr Rudd's plan and where hospitals run more efficiently, there was 75 per cent support compared with 85 per cent in NSW.
The national poll of 14-hundred voters was taken from Thursday to Saturday.
