Poll: Australian coalition, opposition well-matched

A latest opinion poll on Australia's Oct. 9 federal election showed the ruling coalition and the Australian Labor Party (ALP) are still equal on a two-party preferred basis, with each winning 50 percent of the supportat the end of the second week of the election campaign.

On the primary vote, the coalition's support rating went from 45 percent a week ago to 46 percent while ALP remained unchanged at 40 percent, according to the latest Newspoll survey taken exclusively last weekend for The Australian, one of the country's leading newspapers.

At the last election, the coalition finished in front of ALP at43.1 percent to 37.8 percent on primary vote, and 51 percent to 49percent after the distribution of preferences.

On the question which tax and family package would be better for Australia and the economy, each of the coalition and ALP got 32 percent of support.

When asked "under which package do you think you personally would be better off," 30 percent of the respondents chose the coalition while 28 percent chose ALP.

ALP announced its tax and family policy a week ago, from which low-income earners and families will benefit the most.

Prime Minister John Howard's support as preferred prime minister is 50 percent from 49 percent a week ago, compared with Latham's support of 33 percent from 37 percent.

Source: Xinhua