Labor thrills to poll rise, in July the backslapping stops.

Cartoon: By Pickering.

By all reports Treasurer Wayne Swan has hit the microphones this morning in the wake of a new poll in which Labor has made some moderate gains. In the first one released since his ‘cheques in the mail’ budget, Labor’s primary vote has risen by three points to 30%, and on a Two Party Preferred basis, they only trail the coalition by 10%, - 45% to 55%.

This is hardly good news for the party, and especially not for the PM whose satisfaction rating has dropped a point to 27% in spite of the massive cash splash being sent out to lower income families across the nation as an attempt to buy votes. Some minor improvement may occur over the next couple of polls as the cheques start arriving but after that it is down hill all the way.

In July, the massive $23 per ton and rising carbon tax hits the hip pockets, something the government is keeping quiet about for the moment in its advertising blitz. In fact, in a $36 million taxpayer funded campaign to inform us of how good we should think the government is to offer us compensation for taking our money away from us and increasing prices across the board, they fail to mention the tax itself: