Abbott a lizard, Shorten a fake: voters

Swinging voters have some colourful descriptions for the nation's leaders, with one labelling Prime Minister Tony Abbott a lizard.

Asked to describe Mr Abbott in two words, voters conjured up "dull" and "puppet", "ugly" and "annoying", "average" and "bumbling" and "lizard".

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was labelled "tacky" and "fake", "spineless" and "boring" and "unpolished" and "typical", according to focus group research conducted by Fairfax Media.