Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) is pictured on the floor of Australia's House of Representatives with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (L) and Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten following Abe's address to both houses of parliament in Can
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) is pictured on the floor of Australia's House of Representatives with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (L) and Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten following Abe's address to both houses of parliament in Canberra July 8, 2014. REUTERS/Lukas Coch/Pool (AUSTRALIA - Tags: POLITICS)
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) is pictured on the floor of Australia's House of Representatives with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (L) and Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten following Abe's address to both houses of parliament in Canberra July 8, 2014. REUTERS/Lukas Coch/Pool (AUSTRALIA - Tags: POLITICS)

In just a little over a year in power, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's honeymoon with Aussie voters is definitely over.

The latest survey by Fairfax Ipsos showed that Opposition leader Bill Shorten had not only overtaken Mr Abbott in terms of voting intentions if an election would be held today as the PM's personal approval rating tumbled down by 12 points.

YouTube/Melodi Roseclere

As a result, Shorten is now the preferred PM 47 to 39. The change in outlook towards the PM is not only expressed in number but also in identified key attributes of a head of state. Of the 11 key attributes, the survey found that Shorten lead in 6 of 11.

The six attributes voters admire in the Labor leader are competence, enjoying the support of the party, openness to ideas, trustworthiness and with a firm grasp of social policy. Mr Abbott still leads when it comes to competence in the area of economics and foreign policy.

The result of the surveys is a vindication for former PM Julia Gillard whom Mr Abbott, when he was still Coalition leader, belittled as the most incompetent and untrustworthy prime minister in the country's history.

The same mean words are now haunting Mr Abbott since the latest poll said only 50 percent of survey respondents found him competent, while Ms Gillard got a higher 53 percent four months before she was voted off by Labor members in early 2013, pointed out Jess Elgood of Ipsos, the pollster of Fairfax.

Before he lost to Mr Abbott in the September 2013 election, PM Kevin Rudd got a 68 percent competency rating, while Shorten got 58 percent competency rating in the current Fairfax survey..

Canberra Times' advice for the PM is for Mr Abbott to spend the Christmas break on serious self-reflection on the area of competency.