A poll shows that Australians appear to be split over Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s judgment that her main political rival is sexist.

Gillard’s fiery speech to Parliament on October 9 in which she branded opposition leader Tony Abbott a misogynist for a string of allegedly sexist comments has been lauded by feminists around the world.

A poll by Sydney market research Newspoll published in The Australian newspaper Tuesday found that 45 per cent of respondents said Abbott had behaved in a sexist way toward Gillard recently and 39 per cent said he had not. There was no clear majority view, with 16 per cent of respondents undecided.