Daniel Hurst, political correspondent

theguardian.com, Tuesday 26 August 2014

Bill Shorten regains lead over Tony Abbott in poll that also shows strong backing for the government’s security package

The poll was conducted a day after Bill Shorten revealed he was the Labor figure questioned by police over a sexual assault allegation. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Federal parliament resumes on Tuesday for the spring sittings with Labor maintaining a lead over the Coalition of 51% to 49% on a two-party-preferred basis, according to the latest Newspoll.

The Newspoll, published in the Australian on Tuesday, paints a mixed picture of the political landscape after the five-week winter recess.

Labor’s two-party preferred lead has reduced since the previous poll as a result of changes in the primary votes of the Greens and minor parties, but the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has recorded a boost to his approval rating and regained a narrow lead over Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister.

The poll also shows strong backing for an element of the government’s security package.

About 77% of respondents expressed their support when told the government was considering new laws for travellers returning from a country involved in civil war, such as Iraq or Syria, requiring them to prove they had not been in contact with any terrorist groups. About 18% said they were not in favour of the mooted change.

The telephone poll of 1,170 people between Friday and Sunday showed the Coalition and Labor’s primary votes were steady since the poll a fortnight earlier. First-preference support for the Coalition remained at 40% and Labor’s primary vote remained at 34%.

Support for the Greens dropped two points to 11%. Support for others, including the Palmer United party and other minor parties and independents, increased by two points to 15%.

Based on the preference flows at the September 2013 election, these figures would translate to a two-party vote of Labor 51% and Coalition 49%. In the previous poll Labor’s lead was 52-48%.

The Australian said it was the government’s best two-party result since before the unpopular budget was handed down in May.

Satisfaction with the way Shorten was doing his job as opposition leader rose three points since the previous poll to 39% and dissatisfaction dropped four points to 40%, producing a net approval rating of minus one.

Satisfaction with Abbott’s work as prime minister remained steady at 36% and dissatisfaction rose one point to 55%, a net approval score of minus 19.

Asked who would make a better prime minister, 40% of respondents nominated Shorten and 39% preferred Abbott. In the previous poll Abbott held a lead of 41% to 37%.

The survey period began on Friday, a day after Shorten made a public statement revealing he was the senior Labor figure questioned by Victoria Police over a historical sexual assault allegation, for which there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

The winter parliamentary recess was dominated by the government’s efforts to secure crossbench support for contentious budget measures, with Labor continuing to oppose key proposals on the grounds of unfairness.

The government accused Labor of irresponsibility but attempted last week to allay any sense of budget “crisis”, saying most spending measures had passed parliament in the appropriations bills as is normal.

The poll has a stated margin of sampling error of three points.

Labor maintains slim lead over Coalition in latest Newspoll | World news | theguardian.com