Poor polling another headache after Liberal by-election loss
As the Liberal Party digests the weekend’s historic by-election loss in Victoria, the coalition’s primary vote has plunged to its lowest level since September.
Federal Liberal and Opposition leader Peter Dutton. Photo: AAP/Scott Chisholm
Support for the coalition fell two points to 33 per cent nationally, according to the poll, which was published in The Australian on Monday.
The result comes as Dutton faces fallout from the Liberal Party’s historic by-election loss in Aston at the weekend that left it with only two federal seats in metropolitan Melbourne. It’s the first time a sitting government has won a seat off the Opposition in a by-election since 1920.
The latest Newspoll of 1500 voters shows the Liberal-National parties losing ground to both Labor and One Nation, which posted its highest primary vote since 2018.
With a one-point gain for Labor on a two-party preferred split, 55-45 per cent, the coalition faces an almost three per cent swing against it since last May’s election, according to the survey.
Albanese stretched his lead as preferred prime minister, lifting four points to 58 per cent against a fall of two points for Dutton to 26 per cent.
Labor’s primary vote rose a point to 38 per cent while Pauline Hanson’s One Nation also added a point to eight per cent, marking the highest level of support for her party in five years.
The Greens remained unchanged on 10 per cent – more than two points down on the last election result.
The other minor parties and independents, including the teals, were also unchanged at 11 per cent.
Albanese’s approval rating rose a point to 56 per cent while Dutton’s fell two points to 35 per cent.
-with AAP