Figures show the Coalition’s primary vote frozen at 17 per cent in the latest Newspoll, a record low that has Opposition Leader Angus Taylor conceding hard work ahead. Labor rose to 33 per cent in the same survey, while the Redbridge poll published in the Australian Financial Review put Labor at 30 per cent. Voters shifted toward the government rather than returning to the Coalition, according to the polling published on Monday.
The Liberal Party’s own frontbench says messaging needs re-examination. Liberal MP Melissa McIntosh told Sky News the party risks being seen as stuck in the past, with policies needing to resonate with the Australia of today and the future. She said the “diabolical” polls could not be ignored, though replacing Taylor was not on the cards just four months after he succeeded Sussan Ley.
According to the polling data, One Nation’s primary vote fell slightly to 29 per cent in both surveys. Pauline Hanson’s personal satisfaction rating dropped 10 points in the Redbridge survey. Environment Minister Murray Watt likened the shift away from One Nation to a shopper reaching for a product based on the label, then finding the contents unappetising. He said that One Nation makes many promises about standing up for battlers, but people are now seeing through them and realising life would be worse under a One Nation-Liberal coalition.
Taylor’s own approval rating slumped to minus 20 — 31 per cent approving and 51 per cent disapproving. He told 2GB radio the Coalition had been in free fall but was no longer in that state, likening the party’s position to a heavy tanker. He said the party had real work to do to rebuild trust with Australians, and that takes time, discipline and hard work. Radio host James Willis interjected: “You still are” in free fall.
Shadow minister Maria Kovacic said the Coalition’s job was to stop One Nation just as much as to remove the Albanese government. Nationals leader Matt Canavan acknowledged the electorate was restless and volatile, saying the herd was moving but not through the right gate. Senior Labor ministers pointed to modest tax cuts kicking in from Wednesday as evidence of delivery. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek called the poll numbers a modest improvement.
The Coalition’s fractured history — bust-ups over the past year, trust lost during COVID and since — has hurt public standing, Taylor admitted. Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume stood by him, saying he had prosecuted the case against the Labor budget exceptionally well. The election remains a long way off, but the primary vote at 17 per cent represents a historic low the party must now climb from.
Sources
- Angus Taylor concedes hard work ahead of Coalition to lift standing with voters | The Nightly
- Liberals 'stuck in the past' as party hits new poll low
