Petrol prices hurt Rudd's ratings

High fuel prices have given Australia's Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd his biggest setback since winning office, a poll showed yesterday.

Rudd, who has enjoyed the highest approval ever seen in Australia since his September election win, saw his popularity slide 2 points to 67 percent and public disapproval rise 5 points to 27 percent, a Nielsen poll in Fairfax newspapers showed.

"I've been talking to working Australians for weeks and months about the impact of petrol prices on them and hearing their message loud and clear," Rudd told reporters in a press conference after the poll results were published.