'The house is on fire': Turnbull slumping as support for One Nation grows
The Turnbull government's popularity has slumped to a new low in the latest Newspoll, with their primary vote now lower than when Tony Abbott was ousted in 2015.
Disaffected voters have instead pushed Pauline Hanson's One Nation to 10 per cent of the primary vote, more than doubling the minor party's support since November.
The coalition's slide in the latest Newspoll comes as no surprise to cabinet minister Mathias Cormann who blames it on too much internal government bickering.
If an election were to be held today, Labor would ultimately win in a landslide.
The coaltion's support has not been this low since Tony Abbott was ousted in 2015. Source: 7 News
The ALP holds a 55-45 per cent advantage over the coalition in two-party terms as the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull suffers another blow to his personal standing.
Senator Cormann, who took Tony Abbott to task last week for the former prime minister's stinging critique of the government's performance, put the result down to the coalition focusing on itself.
"It's not a surprise after the internal conversation we've had through the media in recent days," he told ABC radio on Monday.
"People mark us down for that."
Labor's commanding lead in two-party terms is its strongest result since early 2015, when Mr Abbott faced a spill motion in the Liberal party room.
Mr Turnbull retains his lead over Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister but is being marked down personally, with voter satisfaction with his performance tumbling from 33 to 29 per cent since the previous Newspoll, three weeks ago.
One Nation senator Pauline Hanson continues her political comeback. Source: AAP
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At 34 per cent, the government's primary vote is down eight points since the July 2 election.
The 10 per cent primary vote support for One Nation now matches the support for the Greens.
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Cabinet minister Simon Birmingham put the rising support for One Nation down to a global trend all mainstream political parties were trying to grapple with.
As well, internal chatter was taking away from the good things the government was doing.
"We want every single member pulling in the same direction supporting the case for the reforms the government is trying to implement right now," Senator Birmingham said.
The latest newspoll puts the ALP in a commanding lead, however Malcolm Turnbull still leads Bill Shorten as preferred PM. Source: 7 News
Labor senator Sam Dastyari expects government MPs will dismiss the poll's findings.
"The house is on fire," he told reporters.
Senator Dastyari described Mr Abbott's latest intervention as a spectacular sideshow and the grenade he threw into the political debate was exemplary.
But what was actually hurting the government more were some of its policy decisions, he said.
