Labor Leader Bill Shorten’s approval rating has hit an all time low of 28 per cent, as Labor’s primary vote also dropped to an eight-month low, the latest Newspoll reveals.

But rising support for the Greens continued to keep Labor ahead of the Coalition in a two-party-preferred vote, The Australian reported.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott also suffered a hit to his satisfaction rating during the past fortnight, but remained more popular than Mr Shorten, and was still ranked as voters’ preferred prime minister.

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On a two-party preferred basis, Labor leads the Coalition 51 per cent to 49 per cent, with the gap narrowing from 53 per cent and 47 per cent one month ago.

Labor’s primary vote dropped by three points to 34 per cent, the lowest since October, while the Coalition fell one point to 40 per cent.

The Greens nudged up one point to an eight-month high of 14 per cent while others, including independents and minor parties, gained three points to 12 per cent.

The poll of 1086 people also showed Mr Shorten’s satisfaction fell four points to his worst rating of 28 per cent.

It was also the lowest level for any opposition leader since December 2012, when Tony Abbott had the job, The Australian reported.

His net satisfaction rating – the difference between those who are satisfied with his performance and those who are dissatisfied — dropped from minus 18 points a fortnight ago, to minus 26 points, also his worst result.

Mr Abbott’s net satisfaction went from minus 15 points to minus 22 points during the same period.

Since the previous Newspoll a fortnight ago, Mr Abbott had faced criticism for refusing to confirm or deny allegations that Australia paid the crew of a people-smuggling vessel to turn back to Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Mr Shorten had agreed to appear before the royal commission into trade union corruption to answer questions about workplace deals struck when he was a union leader.

The Newspoll results differ substantially from the latest Fairfax-Ipsos poll, released on Monday.

That poll showed Mr Shorten had reclaimed the lead as preferred prime minister by one point at 42 per cent.

– with AAP