Australian ruling party has solid lead - poll

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Labour government starts an election year with a solid lead against the conservative opposition which blocked key climate change legislation, according to a major poll published on Saturday.

The widely watched Newspoll, published in The Weekend Australian, showed Labour beating the opposition coalition by 57 percent to 43 percent on a two-party basis, far exceeding the 5.4 percent margin by which it won the last election in 2007.

The quarterly poll was conducted over the period from October to December, during which the opposition ditched former leader Malcolm Turnbull for current leader Tony Abbott in a push led by climate change sceptics.

As a result, the opposition last month blocked legislation to set up an emissions trading scheme, reneging on an agreement with the government made earlier by Turnbull and his allies.

The next election has to take place this year.

The poll covered 8,000 voters drawn from across the country over the three-month period.

Compared to the previous quarter, it showed a slight shift in support in favour of the government on a two-party basis, taking into account Australia's complicated system of transferable voting.

The poll also found 60 percent of voters satisfied with Rudd's performance as prime minister, while 65 percent judged he would make the better prime minister over the opposition leader, who was Turnbull for most of the period covered by the poll.

The emissions trading scheme has been blocked twice in the upper house Senate, where the government lacks a majority, giving it a potential trigger to call an early election for both houses of parliament.

Rudd has said, however, that he wants to serve his full term.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)