Anthony Albanese’s massive lead over Peter Dutton has tightened almost a week after Labor’s first Federal Budget.
In the Newspoll published in The Australian – the first in eight weeks – Mr Albanese’s 39-point lead over the Opposition Leader as preferred prime minister has fallen away.
Mr Albanese is now ahead of Mr Dutton by 27-points in a period which covered the Queen’s death, a foreign policy controversy over the Israeli capital and news of soaring gas and power prices.
Following a week which included the Treasurer’s Budget speech and the Opposition Leader’s Budget reply, Mr Dutton jumped five points from 22 to 27 per cent, while Mr Albanese dropped from 61 per cent to 54.
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The Prime Minister’s net satisfaction also suffered a minor blow. Satisfaction with his performance dropped from 61 per cent to 59 per cent while 33 per cent disapproved giving Mr Albanese a net job approval of 26 per cent.
In the same period, Mr Dutton’s approval rating jumped by four points to 39 per cent but those unsatisfied with his performance grew by three points to 46 per cent.
The Opposition Leader’s net approval rating only increased by one per cent from negative-8 per cent in September to negative-7 per cent.
More than five months after its election victory, Labor’s lead over the Coalition has also begun to drop.
While Labor’s primary vote grew by one point to a post-election high of 38 per cent, the Coalition has gained four points since the last Newspoll.
As a result, Labor’s two-party-preferred lead has fallen with the Coalition able to secure a four-point swing digging into the government’s lead and reducing the gap from 57-43 per cent to 55-45 per cent.
Despite the Coalition making small grounds, Labor’s two-party-preferred lead is still almost three points higher than the 52.13-47.87 per cent result it secured at the May election.
With both major parties lifting their popular support, minor parties and independents suffered significant setbacks in the latest poll.
The Greens have lost two points, dropping from 11 per cent to 9 per cent in a period which included the stunning resignation of deputy Senate leader Lidia Thorpe over shocking revelations she had a relationship with a former Rebels bikie boss.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has lost one point, now sitting at 6 per cent, while Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party is now only showing one per cent primary support despite being deregistered as a party.
Support for “other”, which is largely led by the teal independents, has also dropped by one point to 9 per cent.
The Newspoll surveyed 1500 people across the country between Thursday and Sunday.
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