Labor’s primary vote has sunk to its equal lowest level since Anthony Albanese won the 2022 election, as One Nation and the Coalition clawed back support despite political brawling between the conservative parties.
An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian between Monday and Thursday last week revealed core support for Labor fell from 33 per cent to 30 per cent, which reflects the ALP’s lowest point since the Gillard government polled between 26 and 30 per cent.
After One Nation dropped two points from a record high 31 per cent primary vote to 29 per cent in June, Pauline Hanson’s party recovered to join Labor at 30 per cent.
Core support for One Nation remained strong despite recent criticism of Senator Hanson’s trips to London and Sicily and greater scrutiny of her party’s policies, as well as historic comments made by senator Malcolm Roberts.
Speaking to the CPAC conference in Britain, Senator Hanson on the weekend said Australia was “flooded” with migrants who had no intention of assimilating, as she told delegates: “Don’t apologise for being white, I am sick of hearing about white privilege.”
Sharpening his attacks on One Nation, the Prime Minister in the Tiwi Islands said Senator Hanson and others should be talking up Australia instead of talking it down.
“When you’re an Australian representative who has been elected by the Australian people, and you’re travelling overseas, you have a responsibility to talk Australia up, to be proud of who we are and what we have achieved as a nation,” the Prime Minister said.
“That is what I do, and that is what I think is appropriate for public representatives.”
Facing his own One Nation problems ahead of a state election early next year, NSW Premier Chris Minns went even further and claimed any alliance between Senator Hanson’s populist party and the Coalition would be bad for people without white skin.
“What will that policy view and this leader mean for the state of NSW? If (a Coalition-One Nation alliance) has significant power in our political institutions, inside our government … I think that would be bad for our economy, bad for community cohesion, and bad for young people who may not have white pigmentation.”
Angus Taylor’s Coalition also bounced back after three consecutive primary vote falls in Newspoll, with core support for the Liberals and Nationals increasing to 19 per cent, up from a historic low of 17 per cent last month.
The Greens dropped a point to 12 per cent and Others, which includes independents and minor parties, rose from 8 per cent to 9 per cent.
The Newspoll of 1238 voters across Australia found support for Mr Albanese and Mr Taylor remained largely negative.
The Prime Minister’s net approval rating is minus 18 per cent, with 39 per cent of voters satisfied and 57 per cent dissatisfied, while the Opposition Leader’s net approval rating hit minus 21 per cent, with 30 per cent satisfied and 51 per cent dissatisfied. Senator Hanson’s net approval rating improved to neutral, with 47 per cent satisfied with her performance, 47 per cent dissatisfied, and 6 per cent uncommitted.
On the Better Prime Minister measure, Mr Albanese’s 11-point lead over Mr Taylor fell to eight points, with 44 per cent of voters preferring the Labor leader, 36 per cent preferring the Liberal leader and 20 per cent uncommitted.
The closest margin between Mr Albanese and Mr Taylor, who replaced Sussan Ley in February, has been 6 per cent.
When voters ranked Mr Albanese, Mr Taylor and Senator Hanson in order of their preference for Prime Minister, Mr Albanese led at 46 per cent (down from 49 per cent in the June Newspoll), with the One Nation leader on 32 per cent and the Opposition Leader on 22 per cent.
The “two prime minister-preferred” measure based on the second preferences of voters who selected Mr Taylor showed Mr Albanese maintaining a 57 per cent to 43 per cent lead over Senator Hanson.
Labor, Liberal and One Nation strategists will pore over the Newspoll results, which show shifts across the board in terms of party primary votes but little movement in the leaders’ popularity.
After hitting a record low net approval rating of minus 24 in June, Mr Albanese’s minus 18 performance is still among his worst results since becoming Labor leader.
Mr Taylor’s best net approval rating was minus 3 in his first Newspoll after replacing Ms Ley in February.
Ms Ley’s final net approval rating in February was minus 39, with 23 per cent satisfied with his performance and 62 per cent dissatisfied.
The Opposition Leader, who has come under pressure from colleagues to take the fight up more directly against Senator Hanson, used a Sydney Institute speech this month to warn a One Nation government would create an “eternity of pain” for Australians and deliver even worse economic outcomes than the Albanese government.
While Mr Taylor has refined his attacks on One Nation, he has also focused on keeping pressure on the Albanese government, and warned in the speech that Australians were becoming poorer under Labor due to bigger government, sluggish productivity, high immigration, support for net zero and a the rollout of a union-endorsed IR agenda.
Geoff ChambersPolitical editor