Key group walks away from Albo
Western Australians and younger Australians are abandoning their support for Anthony Albanese, the latest Newspoll has revealed.
Analysis from The Australian found while nationally, Labor was still four points (52 to 48) ahead of the Coalition based on a two-party preferred basis, support for the Albanese government was dropping among young voters.
Since the last quarterly results were last published in December, the government’s 66-34 lead dropped five points to 61-39.
Analysis of the primary vote among young voters also showed Labor dropping five points from 38 to 35 points since December’s results.
Meanwhile, the Coalition gained five points to 27, surpassing support for the Greens (34 points- a drop of one point), Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (unchanged at 6 points), and other parties (10 points, an increase by one point).
Across all ages, primary vote for the Coalition remained at 37 points since the last Newspoll, with Labor (33) gaining one point from the Greens (12), since March’s Newspoll.
Support for the Opposition has also tipped to 51 to 49 per cent in Western Australia (WA), the first time Peter Dutton’s Coalition has surpassed Labor since they lost government in May 2022.
The Opposition also gained one point in NSW, with the two-party split narrowing to 50-50. In South Australia, Labor’s lead had also diminished by one point to 46-54.
Queensland was the only state which showed a one point increase to the government to 53-47.
Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie said the polling was reflective of a wider trend of younger voters not being engaged with politics.
“I do notice with, younger voters that they are very disengaged from politics, to be honest with you, you see that from standing on street corners, none of them want to look at you on buses,” she said on Today.
“I think if someone can crack that (getting young voters interested in politics), you know, we’ll all have a good go in the game.”
Her panel mate Neil Breen said dropping support could be linked to increasing house prices and rent during a cost-of-living crisis.
“I think younger voters are off. The government because of house prices and rent. I truly believe it,” he said.
“I’ve got a daughter at university who frets about how she’s ever going to buy a house, ever in her whole life. So I think it’s a massive issue.”
Speaking to Sky News on Monday morning, Sydney-based Kingsford Smith MP Matt Thistlethwaite batted away concern for the polling result.
“Every election cycle is about 80 or 90 Newspolls, some are going to go up, some are going to go down. That’s a fact of life,” he said.
He said the government was doing its “utmost best to prioritise cost of living,” pointing toward the revised tax cuts from July 1, energy rebates, and fee-free TAFE.
