"Only half of people polled said that Abbott is competent," says the Fairfax pollster, Jess Elgood of Ipsos. Prime Minister Tony Abbott: The problem, not the answer. "That's lower than for any prime minister we have figures for," a data set starting with Paul Keating in 1995. Compared to Abbott's 50 per cent, the comparable figure for Gillard four months before she was deposed was 53 per cent. The competence rating for Kevin Rudd two months before losing last year's election was 65 per cent.

Remarkably, even Bill Shorten, with 58 per cent, has a higher competence rating than Abbott. As Opposition Leader, Shorten doesn't actually administer anything. Abbott last week berated Shorten for his untrustworthiness, the man who stabbed two of his leaders, Rudd and then Gillard, in the back. Yet today's poll shows that the electorate considers Abbott to be even less trustworthy. Neither man is regarded as someone most Australians would trust to feed their dog, but Shorten's 44 per cent rating on trust handily beats Abbott's 36.

Abbott's low standing is unimpressive enough, but the fact that he's dwarfed by Shorten's stunted status is evidence of a serious problem. The poll finding on the overall political contest shows only a very marginal deterioration in support for the Coalition over the past month. The government is behind, and it slipped further behind by only 2 percentage points in the last month on the primary vote, and 1 point on the two-party preferred vote. These movements are within the poll's margin of error. But the prime minister's personal numbers fell sharply.

"His reputation has clearly taken a battering from the way the Coalition is seen to renege on its promises," says Elgood. Shorten's net approval rating today is 5 per cent, not outstanding until you compare it to Abbott's negative 19. Shorten's lead lengthened by 14 percentage points in a single month, a sharp movement in so brief a span. What did Shorten do to win more approval? Only oppose Abbott. As Shorten said last week: "2014 has been defined by the force of our resistance."

Abbott is making Shorten popular. With the government's support falling only marginally but Abbott's precipitously, the people seem to be making a personal point. This is about you, Prime Minister. Abbott, seen by the people to be incompetent and untrustworthy, is a liability for his government and an asset for the Labor Party. Loading

While most of Australia relaxes over the Christmas break, the Prime Minister will spend the time in serious self-reflection. If he's in any way competent. Follow us on Twitter