Media mostly favour the Left, as usual, but voters seem to want Tony Abbott



AUSTRALIA'S Sunday newspapers have backed Julia Gillard to win the election, saying Labor deserves a second term.

But voters don't seem to agree, with the latest opinion poll suggesting Tony Abbott will win the 17 seats he needs for an election victory.

Although most of the sundays criticised Labor for its poor performance at state and federal level, they were willing to give Ms Gillard an opportunity to show what she could achieve as Prime Minister.

Suprisingly, the paper that has hit Labor the hardest, The Sunday Telegraph, praised Ms Gillard as someone who could make the "big calls" and would not be "cowed by the news polls".

Queensland has been urged to give Tony Abbott a chance, with the Sunday Mail saying the Government has squandered its goodwill and confidence.

However, a Galaxy Poll of 4000 voters in 20 marginal seats in five states has Mr Abbott's Coalition in front of Labor, 51.4 per cent to 48.6 per cent. The survey comes only a day after polls by Nielsen and Newspoll suggested Ms Gillard was within a whisker of winning power.

The Galaxy Poll, published in today's News Limited papers, predicts devastation for Labor in Queensland, where a potential swing of 5.4 per cent against the Government could cost it 10 seats.

In NSW, polling in Eden-Monaro, Gilmore, Macarthur and Macquarie found a swing of 2.4 per cent against the Government, while the coalition was likely to win all the seats polled, plus three others if the swing was statewide. The Coalition is also in front in Swan and Hasluck in Western Australia, The Sunday Telegraph reported. In the Prime Minister's home state of Victoria, the Galaxy Poll found a swing in Labor's favour of 1.6 per cent. But the average swing across the five mainland states is 1.7 per cent to the Coalition.

On the question of preferred prime minister, Mr Abbott has the most support in NSW and Queensland (37 and 38 per cent respectively), while Ms Gillard is most popular in South Australia on 54 per cent, followed by Victoria on 51 per cent.

The Greens' primary vote is 10.2 per cent, but 12 per cent in Victoria, the poll shows.

The papers will give Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott a much-needed boost as the campaign enters its final week. Although The Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Herald Sun make clear that Mr Abbott would not be a bad choice as prime minister, they believe he hasn't provided a clear and powerful vision of how he will govern.

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