War on Campbell Newman misfires for ALP as Newspoll shows LNP holds lead

THE vocal backlash against Campbell Newman's cost-cutting drive has failed to dent the popularity of the Premier and his LNP.

THE vocal backlash against Campbell Newman's cost-cutting drive - and federal Labor's attempts to demonise the Queensland leader as part of its campaign against Tony Abbott - have failed to dent the popularity of the Premier and his Liberal National Party.

A Newspoll survey published exclusively in The Australian today reveals Mr Newman has come through the turbulent opening to his premiership with almost all of the voter support that delivered a crushing state election victory to the LNP six months ago.

Despite the Gillard government's efforts to portray his purge of the state public service and cutbacks in government spending as the curtain-raiser to what the Opposition Leader would do in government, the Queensland electorate has kept faith with Mr Newman.

The LNP commands a primary vote of 48 per cent, down only slightly on the 49.7 per cent it secured at the election on the back of a record swing against state Labor under Anna Bligh, but within the margin of error of Newspoll.

Tellingly, Mr Newman's personal approval with voters remains rock solid on 47 per cent -- the same as it was going into the state poll on March 24.

Dissatisfaction with his performance has actually eased slightly since he took office, from 40 per cent immediately before the election to 38 per cent over the three-month polling period from July to September.

When preferences are factored in, the LNP is 20 points clear of state Labor, 60-40 per cent, two-party-preferred. This is broadly in line with the election result that delivered 78 of the 89 state seats in Queensland to the LNP on a two-party-preferred vote of 62.8 per cent, against Labor's 37.2 per cent.

Mr Newman, as preferred premier, has more than twice the support of new state Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk, who is yet to make a decisive impression.

Nearly a quarter of the 1145 voters polled were uncommitted when asked whether Ms Palaszczuk, a former Bligh government minister, would be the better premier, while just 13 per cent were undecided about Mr Newman.

Only 29 per cent were satisfied with her performance as Opposition Leader, against the 47 per cent who approved of the job the Premier was doing.

The Newspoll shows that Labor's attempts to capitalise on union protests against the state government's axing of up to 14,000 full-time and contract jobs in the public service are yet to gain traction with Queensland voters, who are set once again to be crucial to the outcome of the federal election due in the second half of next year.

Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan have led the charge, warning that Mr Abbott, if elected, would cut even more deeply into health, education and other public services. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd on Friday joined the Prime Minister and Treasurer in attacking Mr Newman by describing the LNP government as the entree to the "main course" that would be dished up under the federal Coalition.

Labor strategists say the Newman job cuts have handed them an opportunity to "scare" voters into having a critical look at the federal Opposition Leader and the "cost of Liberal governments" at both state and federal levels.

But senior LNP sources argue Labor's attempts to shackle Mr Abbott to Mr Newman's job cuts are predictable because they have nothing else to build a campaign around in Queensland, where its record is one of waste, mismanagement and broken promises. The Gillard government is straddling a political tightrope as it attempts to score points against the conservative premiers while having to find its own massive budget savings to protect the surplus in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook.

Mr Swan last week vowed to achieve an unprecedented $45 billion turnaround in the federal finances without resorting to major cuts to the bureaucracy as part of federal Labor's strategy to demonise Mr Newman.

Newspoll chief executive Martin O'Shannessy said the Queensland Premier's personal support had been steady across the entire 12-week polling period, ending last week. This was in the face of fierce, union-led resistance to the LNP government's austerity program and apparent gaffes by Mr Newman, including his comments equating the Queensland economy to that of European basket case Spain. "There are no moments in the poll showing that Newman had a particularly bad week . . . it's very stable, straightforward," Mr O'Shannessy said. "He has not lost any gloss since the election." Support for Katter's Australian Party, however, fell from the 11.5 per cent share of the vote it picked up on March 24 to 1 per cent, while the Greens' vote lifted from 7.5 per cent at the state election to 9 per cent.