Q. Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove or strongly disapprove of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister?
| 9 Feb 09 | 30 Mar 09 | 18 May 09 | 29 Jun 09 | 10 Aug 09 | 28 Sept 09 | 9 Nov 09 | 30 Nov 09 | 14 Dec 09 | 18 Jan 10 | 22 Feb 10 | |
| Strongly approve | 17% | 21% | 14% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 14% | 9% | 10% | 11% | 11% |
| Approve | 50% | 50% | 48% | 48% | 47% | 51% | 47% | 47% | 47% | 44% | 41% |
| Disapprove | 15% | 14% | 18% | 18% | 17% | 17% | 19% | 20% | 20% | 19% | 20% |
| Strongly disapprove | 8% | 7% | 11% | 9% | 10% | 6% | 13% | 15% | 12% | 14% | 17% |
| Don’t know | 9% | 9% | 9% | 11% | 12% | 11% | 8% | 10% | 10% | 12% | 11% |
| Total approve | 67% | 71% | 62% | 62% | 60% | 66% | 61% | 56% | 57% | 55% | 52% |
| Total disapprove | 23% | 21% | 29% | 29% | 27% | 23% | 32% | 35% | 32% | 33% | 37% |
Just over half (52%) of those surveyed approve of the job Kevin Rudd is doing as Prime Minister, 37% disapprove and 11% don’t know. This gives Kevin Rudd a net approval rating of +15%.
Rudd has the lowest approval rating and the highest disapproval rating that has been reported in the Essential Report since we began asking this question in 2008.
Results followed party lines – Labor voters were more likely to approve of the job Rudd is doing (92%), while Coalition voters were more likely to disapprove (78%). 17% of Coalition voters approve of the job Rudd is doing as Prime Minister.
59% of Green voters approve of the job Rudd is doing, while 30% of these same voters disapprove.
People aged 18 – 24 were more likely to approve of the job Rudd is doing (59%), while people aged 65 years and over were more likely to disapprove (59%).