Aussie government popularity drops 

Source: ReutersKevin Rudd

The popularity of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's government has taken a tumble in the past two weeks as the country has become embroiled in a heated debate over boatpeople arrivals and border security.

A new opinion poll, to be published in The Australian newspaper on Tuesday, found support for Rudd's Labor government had fallen 7 percentage points in two-party preferred terms.

The arrival of several boats carrying asylum seekers has ignited the hot-button political issue, forcing Rudd to defend his border security policy, which critics say has been softened and is attracting more boatpeople.

Conservative parties won a 2001 election in which asylum seekers were a key issue and, while elections are not due until late 2010, Rudd may call a snap poll in early 2010 over stalled emissions trading laws.

Newspoll found Labor on 52% support in two-party preferred terms, down 7 percentage points, and the conservative coalition up 7 percentage points at 48%.

Until now the Liberal-National coalition opposition, which has been trailing badly in opinion polls, has been unable to dent the government on issues such as economic management and climate change.

Rudd retains a commanding lead as preferred prime minister at 63% compared with only 19% support for opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull.

But Rudd is concerned that criticism of his border security policy in the past fortnight is gaining traction with voters, and late on Monday went on a media blitz, holding six radio interviews and a national TV interview to discuss the issue.

"We need to adopt a consistent, responsible border protection policy in the national interest, hardline against people smugglers and humane in our dealing with genuine asylum seekers," Rudd told local radio on Monday.

"But I fully accept that this sort of balanced approach won't be popular with people on the extreme right or people on the extreme left," said Rudd.

Critics accuse Rudd of being soft on boatpeople after dismantling the previous conservative government's policy of mandatory detention.

Rudd says conflicts in South Asia are the reason for the rise in boatpeople numbers, still small by global comparisons.

"What we're faced with in Sri Lanka is 260,000 people displaced because of the civil war," Rudd told local television.

A constant stream of boatpeople have arrived off Australia's remote northwest coast this year, with authorities forced to rescue several from unseaworthy boats.

Seventy eight Sri Lankans were rescued in Indonesian waters by an Australian customs ship two weeks ago, but they are now refusing to leave the ship in Indonesia.

Almost 20 suspected asylum seekers were missing, feared drowned, after their boat sank on Sunday about 650 km (400 miles) northwest of Australia's Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

More than 1,600 boatpeople have arrived off Australia's northwest coast this year, mainly people fleeing violence in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

The numbers are small compared with the tens of thousands of asylum seekers sailing across the Mediterranean to Europe each year.