Fresh blow to Albo in new poll
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been served a fresh blow as Peter Dutton rises in popularity among voters with an election announcement expected in a matter of months.
About 41 per cent of voters are likely to back Mr Dutton as the “better” prime minister according to the latest Newspoll survey, conducted between November 4 and November 8.
The latest poll of 1261 voters across the country has shown the closest gap between Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese since the last election, with Mr Dutton having moved up by four points.
However Mr Albanese remains steady as the favoured Prime Minister at 45 per cent, while the number of those dissatisfied with the PM rose by one point to 55 per cent.
Despite this, Mr Albanese’s approval ratings remained at 40 per cent, the same as Mr Dutton’s.
In terms of party popularity, the Coalition has won out by two points over Labor.
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie pointed to economic uncertainty as the reason for the change, which she said is on the forefront of voters’ minds as small businesses continue to close.
“I sort of don’t pay much attention to the polls that much, but what I will say is, this is the word that’s going around right now, and that I said 18 months ago: it is the economy, stupid,” Ms Lambie said on Today.
“The problem here is the economy … I told you this 18 months ago, we have problems in this country and it’s not getting any better.
“People are really going without out there, and I think both the leaders need to get out in those areas and those electorates which are the most poorest around Australia and actually spend some time in them and listen to what they’ve got to say.”
Ms Lambie said supermarket dominance posed another issue for voters.
”Quite frankly, small businesses are shutting. They’re not reopening,” Ms Lambie said.
“Things are not looking good there. People are already, they’re not getting their money’s worth at supermarkets. It’s shocking.”