The latest Newspoll, published on Monday, confirms the federal Coalition continues to trail the Opposition, by an entrenched margin of 47:53 two-party preferred, based on the latest survey of 1639 respondents.
Off the back of a sluggish three month trough for the Government, there are some small signs of optimism as the rise of the Opposition Leader’s personal ratings appears to have stalled.
The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP has widened his lead over the Hon Bill Shorten MP as preferred Prime Minister who has potentially reached his peak this year. The Prime Minister is favoured by 46 per cent of voters compared with 31 per cent who favour the alternative.
Despite a cycle that included talk of policy destabilisation over same-sex marriage and potential challenges to the authority of the Executive, the Prime Minister also gained in the voter satisfaction column with his performance, posting his strongest results since early 2016.
However, the overwhelming feeling would be of concern for the Coalition and the Secretariat of the Liberal and National Parties as there is a distinct flat lining of the primary vote, currently at 36 per cent. While Labor’s vote fell one point from 37 to 36 per cent, it was a calculated decision to release potentially hurtful policies a long way out from the election to segments of the constituency, including a tax slug on family trusts and talk of approving four-year terms for Parliamentarians.
Bizarrely, the Greens were beneficiaries during this cycle with their primary vote rising from nine to 11 per cent, despite recently losing two Senators over citizenship irregularities. This marks the strongest result since before the July 2016 election.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party suffered a further polling setback with its second fall in consecutive Newspolls. The primary vote has slipped from nine to eight per cent amid allegations over prominent Senator Malcolm Roberts, who faces allegations he held a dual citizenship when first elected to the Senate.
