Just a week from polling day, the Coalition is walking on shaky ground, with a report claiming Canberra’s regional grants program has been used for pork-barrelling in coalition electorates, and a video showing frontbencher Tony Abbott admitting Work Choices had stripped workers of protections.

A newspoll released today shows the coalition eight percentage points behind the opposition.

Coalition ‘eight points behind’

In the latest Nielsen poll, published in Fairfax newspapers today, the government has edged up one percentage point on a two-party preferred basis, but still lags eight points behind Labor which holds a commanding 54 to 46 per cent lead.

Labor's two-party support had dipped by one point in the latest poll.

The coalition's primary vote was up two percentage points to 43 per cent, but still behind Labor on 47 per cent (down one point).

But in what could prove to be the biggest indicator of the government's chances, 60 per cent of voters predicted a Labor win, while 29 per cent favoured the coalition.

The poll, conducted from Monday to Wednesday this week, also showed Prime Minister John Howard's rating as preferred prime minister had risen two percentage points to 43 per cent.

Labor leader Kevin Rudd's approval as preferred prime minister was unchanged on 49 per cent.

Coalition ‘clawing back some ground’

But there’s also some encouraging sign for the Coalition, with the poll showing it had clawed back some ground.

However, Nielsen polling director John Stirton said the slight change was “not yet enough to significantly reduce Labor's lead".

The government's predicament was reinforced in separate Newspolls, which too showed Labor holding an eight point lead over the government.

The Australian newspaper today reported that an analysis of the past two weeks of Newspolls showed the coalition gaining some ground in NSW and South Australia, but well behind on an overall two-party preferred basis.

In NSW the government had improved by one percentage point to 47 per cent, and in South Australia from 42 per cent to 47 per cent.

But overall it still trailed Labor by 54 to 46 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, the figures from the two Newspolls showed.

Abbott's admission another controversy for coalition

Labor obtained the amateur footage of Mr Abbott telling a local electorate function on Tuesday that he accepted such protections "in inverted commas" had largely gone under the coalition's workplace reforms.

The health minister said the best protection for a sacked worker was to find a new job rather than seek reinstatement via unfair dismissal laws.

Embarrassing report

The development comes as Prime Minister John Howard is under pressure to explain an audit report which accuses the coalition of using a government program to pork-barrel in regional electorates.

A scathing report by Auditor-General Ian McPhee is critical of the administration of the Regional Partnerships Program (RPP) and says ministers often ignored public servants' advice when giving money to coalition electorates.

And in one 90-minute period on the eve of the 2004 federal election campaign, parliamentary secretary De-Anne Kelly rushed through approvals for 16 projects worth more than $3.3 million.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said the report revealed another example of an arrogant and out-of-touch government which had used taxpayer funds to buy votes in the run-up to the 2004 poll.

And Mr Howard may face further fallout with one of his senior advisers, Peter Langhorne, an ex-chief of staff to former Nationals leader John Anderson, caught up in the row.

Mr Langhorne was found to have had a role in pushing for funding for an ethanol plan in Gunnedah, in Mr Anderson's electorate of Gwydir, even though the project was assessed as high-risk.

Mr McPhee examined $400 million allocated by the government's controversial RPP between 2003 and 2006 and found it fell short of "an acceptable standard of public administration".

His three-volume, 1,200-page report found dozens of instances where ministers had overridden departmental recommendations to give the tick to projects in coalition electorates.

And in many instances, ministers blocked grants in Labor seats even though the department deemed them worthy.

Rudd calls on PM to take responsibility

Mr Rudd demanded the prime minister accept responsibility for the pork-barrelling scandal.

"Mr Howard must today accept responsibility for the arrogant abuse of this $328 million program," Mr Rudd told reporters.

"Mr Howard on the eve of an election must at least explain to the Australian people how these abuses of a $328 million taxpayer program have occurred."

Of the $400 million allocated to the program, only $328 million was spent.

Mr Rudd said the report showed the Howard government had arrogantly ignored the advice of independent public servants and abused taxpayers' dollars to get themselves re-elected in 2004.

"I presume they are doing the same again today," he said.

Howard ‘yet to be briefed on the document’

The coalition continued to defend the regional grants program and Mr Howard, campaigning in far north Queensland, told reporters he had not seen the report.

But he said more grants had gone to coalition electorates because they held all the rural seats in Australia.

"The Labor party doesn't hold one seat in Australia that can be called a rural seat and most of the regional seats in Australia are held by the coalition at present," Mr Howard said.

"That's got to mean that if you are to have a fair application, you are going to end up with more of these grants going to coalition seats than Labor seats simply because we hold most of them."

Nationals leader Mark Vaile refused to apologise for the program, which he said had delivered jobs to the bush.