Australian Labor Party falling further behind opposition

After a humiliating defeat at the state level the Australian Federal Labor Party is now falling in the polls at the federal level. A Nielsen poll taken March 29-31 showed the Labor Party with 27 per cent national support compared to 47 per cent for the opposition coalition headed by Tony Abbott. In a poll taken Feb. 22-23 Labor had 34 per cent and the coalition 44 per cent. The situation is obviously getting even worse for the Labor Party.

Elections are due in 2013. The party led by Julia Gillard suffered a huge loss in Queensland. It will probably end up losing 44 of 51 seats it held. Even now Gillard is in a minority position federally and needs the support of Green Party members and Independent members to pass legislation. For much more see this Bloomberg article.

The federal parliament does not convene until May9. The government will then introduce the annual budget. Even though a drop in revenue is predicted the government has promised to deliver a surplus through June of next year.