While budgets do not usually give governments a significant bounce, Labor would have hoped Tuesday's big giveaways would have gone down better. But the budget good news has been partially drowned out by the Craig Thomson affair.

The Coalition's two-party vote is up one point since late March, and Labor's down a point. Labor's primary vote has risen a point to 28 per cent; the Coalition is up two to 49 per cent and the Greens are down one point to 12 per cent.

Mr Abbott's approval has risen five points to 44 per cent, but his disapproval is still 52 per cent, down four points. Ms Gillard's approval is down one point to 35 per cent, while her disapproval is up one point to 60 per cent.

Mr Abbott has a comfortable lead as preferred prime minister, 50 per cent (up two points) to Ms Gillard's 42 per cent (down three points) in the poll of 1200 taken on Wednesday and Thursday. Victoria remains Labor's one bright spot, with the ALP leading 54 to 46 per cent in two-party terms.

Only just over a quarter of voters (27 per cent) said the budget - which contained an immediate cash splash for 1.3 million families with more handouts later - would leave them personally better off, with 43 per cent saying they would be personally worse off. Twenty-two per cent believe it would make no difference to them.