Australian Associated Press Saturday 27 December 2014
Labor now leads Coalition on two-party preferred basis in every state except Western Australia, analysis reveals
Bill Shorten serves up a coffee at the Salvation Army cafe in Melbourne last week. Shorten is ahead of Abbott as preferred PM in every state except Queensland and WA. Photograph: Joe Castro/AAP
Voter support for the Abbott government has plunged across all states over the past year and is significantly behind Labor in two-party-preferred terms everywhere except Western Australia, a Newspoll analysis shows.
The analysis, published by News Corp Australia on Saturday, shows that the Coalition’s primary vote has tumbled 10 points in Victoria and South Australia, nine points in New South Wales, eight points in Queensland and seven points in Western Australia.
In two-party-preferred terms based on preference flows in the 2013 election, Labor leads the Coalition by 60% to 40% in Victoria, by 54% to 46% in both NSW and South Australia and by 52% to 48% in Queensland.
Only in WA does the Coalition have a two-party preferred lead – of 53% to 47%.
Tony Abbott is considered the better prime minister in WA, with a nine-point lead of 43% to 34% and in Queensland with 41% to 39%.
But the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, is ahead in NSW by 40% to 39%, in Victoria by 45% to 33% and in South Australia by 43% to 34%.
