Daniel Hurst, political correspondent
theguardian.com, Tuesday 9 September 2014
Newspoll puts prime minister’s net approval rating at minus 19, with Bill Shorten’s at minus seven
Tony Abbott meets schoolchildren in Canberra. Photograph: Alan Porritt/AAP
The Abbott government has entered its second year in office lagging in the polls, with a new survey showing Labor leading 52% to 48% after the distribution of preferences.
The latest Newspoll, published in the Australian on Tuesday, shows primary support for the Coalition dropped one point in the past fortnight to 39%, while Labor’s first-preference vote rose one point to 35% and the Greens surged three points to 14%.
Others – which include independents and other minor parties such as the Palmer United party – dropped three points to 12%.
The Newspoll survey followed a fortnight of parliament in which the government struck a deal with PUP to fulfil its promise to abolish the mining tax. Labor led a furious attack on the “dirty deal”, saying the decision to further delay legislated increases to compulsory superannuation payments breached Abbott’s promise not to make any adverse unexpected changes to super.
After the distribution of preferences Labor leads 52% to 48%, compared with the Coalition’s 53.5% to 46.5% victory at the election in September last year.
The telephone-based survey of 1,158 voters from Friday to Sunday coincided with the first anniversary of Tony Abbott’s election. The Liberal-National Coalition’s best result in Newspoll in the past year came in late October when the government led 56% to 44% after preferences.
The government then experienced a dramatic decline in support, marking a sharp end to a short electoral honeymoon. Yet the government has recovered somewhat from its post-budget lows, according to Newspoll. Labor’s strongest two-party result was in May, just after the budget, and in early July. In both cases Labor registered a lead of 55% to 45%.
The latest survey shows Abbott and Bill Shorten are level on 37% on the question of preferred prime minister, indicating that one in four respondents did not favour either option.
Satisfaction with Abbott’s job as prime minister was down one point to 35% and dissatisfaction also dropped by one point to 54%, producing a net approval rating of minus 19.
Shorten’s net approval rating was minus seven, with satisfaction in his job as opposition leader dropping three points in the past fortnight to 36% and dissatisfaction rising three points to 43%.
Newspoll also posed a one-off question about the government’s actions in Iraq which indicated that more than six in 10 respondents were supportive of Australia’s present commitment.
Survey participants were told that Australia was providing humanitarian aid and weapons to forces opposing Islamic State militants, and then asked whether they were personally in favour or against such assistance.
About 33% said they were were strongly in favour and 29% were somewhat in favour, while 13% were strongly against and 12% were somewhat against.
Australia’s involvement in humanitarian air drops of supplies to people trapped by Isis militants has attracted broad political support from the Coalition, Labor and the Greens.
Labor has also backed the government’s decision, announced just over a week ago, to help transport arms for use by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters seeking to curb the Isis advance in northern Iraq.
Abbott has left the door open to agreeing to a potential request for Australian military involvement in US-led air strikes against Isis, or provision of military advisers, although the prime minister insisted on Monday that Australia was yet to receive a specific request or make such a decision.
The Greens and the independent MP Andrew Wilkie have led calls for parliament to be given a vote before the government commits to military action in Iraq.
Newspoll’s stated margin of sampling error is 3%.
Abbott government lags in polls with Labor ahead 52% to 48% | World news | theguardian.com
