Tony Abbott stuck in poll doldrums

The only good news for Prime Minister Tony Abbott in the latest polls is that they have recovered slightly from two weeks ago, despite the cavalcade of setbacks experienced by the government during this period. Photo: Andrew Meares

The federal government’s run of horror poll numbers has continued with two national surveys showing the Coalition remains in an election-losing position.

The only good news for Prime Minister Tony Abbott is that the polls have recovered slightly from two weeks ago, despite the cavalcade of setbacks experienced by the government during this period.

Federal Labor continues to have a dominant lead in the polls, with a Newspoll published in The Australian on Tuesday showing the opposition at 54 per cent, down one point, while the Coalition is at 46 per cent, up one point.

The poll also found a fall in Mr Abbott’s personal rating to a five-month low, while Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s personal rating remains steady.

A rival poll, by Roy Morgan, also found a slight recovery for the Coalition, which is up one point to 53 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, while Labor is down one point to 47 per cent.

The polls, both based on preference flow at the 2013 federal election, represent a swing away from the government of at least 6.5 percentage points since that election.

Significantly, the new polls continue a trend seen for most of this year and especially since the May budget, showing the Coalition trailing in the national polls.

The past fortnight has seen the Coalition experience a series of difficulties, ranging from mixed messages about the dumping of key budget measures through to the Senate voting down the government’s changes to Labor’s financial advice laws and voters in Victoria dumping the state Coalition government after just one term.

The Newspoll primary polling has the major parties at an equal 37 per cent, with the Coalition up one point and Labor down two points.

Roy Morgan primary polling has the Coalition on 39 per cent (up one point) and Labor on 37.5 per cent (down one point).

More than half of voters surveyed by Newspoll – 57 per cent – are dissatisfied with Mr Abbott’s performance, compared to 43 per cent being dissatisfied with Mr Shorten’s performance.

Mr Shorten remains ahead of Mr Abbott as preferred PM but one in five voters remain uncommitted.

source:afr.com