- The Coalition has crashed to its worst polling result on record
- A Newspoll shows the Coalition’s primary vote has slumped to just 24 per cent
- READ MORE: The latest on Australian politics
The Coalition has slumped to its worst polling result on record as leader Sussan Ley struggles to keep control amid intense infighting.
A Newspoll, conducted for The Australian and published on Sunday, shows the Coalition’s primary vote has fallen to just 24 per cent after weeks of public spats over the contentious net zero emissions target, which led to a frontbench reshuffle.
One Nation, on the other hand, soared to a record 15 per cent as the party hoovers up right-leaning voters who say the Coalition has forgotten them. Votes for the major parties now attract only 60 per cent of the vote – the lowest combined support since 1985.
Ley leadership in particular has been a focus, with just 25 per cent of respondents satisfied with her performance, and 58 per cent unsatisfied – leaving her with a brutal net approval of –33.
This is even worse than Peter Dutton‘s lowest day as Opposition Leader.
Ley is battling multiple problems at once: an approval rating in freefall, Nationals MPs who have junked net zero altogether, and growing speculation Liberal colleagues could be mounting a leadership challenge.
The Nationals officially abandoned net zero on Sunday, with some Liberal MPs calling it an attempt to back the Liberals into a ‘corner’ and suggesting Ley should break up the Coalition.
‘They are terrorists,’ one unnamed Liberal MP told The Australian. ‘The first rule of being a parasite is not to kill your host.’
The Coalition has crashed to its worst polling result on record with Sussan Ley’s personal approval rating taking a dive
David Littleproud announced the Nationals are scrapping net zero as a policy on Sunday
The rift could see the Coalition split if some Liberal MPs get their way
Another Liberal put it just as bluntly: ‘We can’t keep letting the tail wag the dog.’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is understood to intend to use the Coalition’s very public problems to spruik Labor’s end-of-year agenda, including big environment-law changes to speed up clean-energy and housing projects.
But even he is feeling voter frustration.
Albanese slipped into negative territory for the first time since the election with the Newspoll showing just 46 per cent satisfied and 51 per cent dissatisfied.
But he still smashes Ley 54–27 as preferred PM and Labor keeps a comfortable lead of 57–43 in the two-party-preferred vote.
Coalition MPs have lost their voter share to Labor – drifting to down to 36 per cent.
The Greens are down to 11 per cent.
One Nation has taken the lion share of the votes leaving the two major parties.
The PM has sunk in the polls recently but Labor is, on the whole, on solid ground in the polls
One Nation’s 15 per cent – up four points in a month – is now higher than its famous 1998 surge.
MPs are trying to reassure each other it’s ‘temporary’ and won’t last to the 2028 election.
In a span of two weeks, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Andrew Hastie have quit the frontbench and former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce walked out of the Nationals’ partyroom.
Just two sitting weeks are left before Christmas.
Ms Ley is believed to survive the summer and deliver her first budget-in-reply next May.
This is only if she locks in a single net-zero position to stop the bleeding of votes toward One Nation.
Ms Ley’s rating have fallen from –7 in July to –33 now.
This puts her in the company of the least-liked opposition leaders of the past 40 years
Bill Shorten was the worst, followed by Simon Crean, Alexander Downer, and John Howard during his first-stint.
Under Peter Dutton at the election the party’s percentage was at 31.8 per cent.
Under Sussan Ley, since September , the party’s polling has dropped from 29 per cent in July per cent to 24 per cent.