💧DUKE Clyde (HANSARD)CFW9 (Biden-Harris ELECT)💧 · @nobby15
19th Mar 2017 from TwitLonger
Newspoll: Coalition wins back deserters to regain ground against Labor
The federal Coalition has regained ground against Labor in a significant rise in support over the past three weeks, cutting Labor’s lead to 52 to 48 per cent in two-party terms and lifting Malcolm Turnbull’s personal ratings.
The latest Newspoll, taken exclusively for The Australian, shows the government has won back some of the voters who deserted it earlier this year, when Labor surged to a lead of 55 to 45 in two-party terms.
The Coalition’s primary vote has risen from 34 to 37 per cent since the last Newspoll, taken three weeks ago, in the biggest single rise for the government on this measure since Mr Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott in September 2015.
Labor’s primary vote has fallen from 37 to 35 per cent since the previous Newspoll, ending a brief period of two polls when Labor surpassed the Coalition on this measure.
The Greens saw their primary vote fall by one point to 9 per cent, down from the 10.2 per cent result at the last election. This came after party leader Richard Di Natale last week aired the idea of scaling back the working week to four days.
While Bill Shorten blames the government for cutting Sunday penalty rates, Mr Turnbull has unveiled a $2 billion plan to expand the Snowy Hydro power scheme in a bid to assure voters he is acting on their concerns about electricity prices and energy security.
MORE: Snowy 2.0 gives PM energy
The Newspoll was conducted from Thursday to Sunday, the period immediately after Mr Turnbull released the “Snowy 2.0” plan, which received widespread coverage on Thursday morning and further attention in the main television bulletins that evening.
Labor sought to hammer the government over penalty rates during the same period, launching a robo-call campaign that blamed Mr Turnbull for the Fair Work Commission decision. This was extended on Friday after the Prime Minister told radio station 3AW that he supported the changes.
“We’re having this fight on penalty rates for the living standards of working people because if the Liberals and Mr Turnbull get away with cutting penalty rates, it is the thin edge of the wedge for the living standards and working conditions of all working Australians,” Mr Shorten said on Sunday.
The clash between the two major parties continued on Sunday when Labor seized on reports in News Corp Australia newspapers that the government had costed a welfare reform to cut payments to people on the Age Pension, triggering an angry denial from Mr Turnbull on Twitter.
“You can always rely on Bill Shorten to lie,” Mr Turnbull tweeted, saying the welfare change would not be in the budget.
The government also engaged in a row with business executives over same sex marriage over the weekend, with Immigration Minister Peter Dutton telling corporate leaders including Qantas chief Alan Joyce to go “back to your knitting” rather than spending their time on a letter to Mr Turnbull urging him to act soon on marriage equality. Education Minister Simon Birmingham took a different view on Sunday, saying company executives had often stepped ahead of legislators on public issues. “I see no reason as to why business leaders are not free to do likewise when it comes to issues like marriage equality,” he said.
Mr Turnbull has doubled his lead over Mr Shorten as preferred prime minister to lead by 43 to 29 per cent, a gap of 14 points.
This compares to a lead of 40 to 33 per cent in the Newspoll published three weeks ago, a gap of only 7 points.
At 37 per cent, the government’s primary vote remains five points below its support at the July election. However, it is once again ahead of Labor on the primary vote after falling behind in the first two Newspoll surveys of this year.
The Prime Minister’s net satisfaction rating — the difference between those who are satisfied and those who are dissatisfied with his performance — has improved from -30 points to -27 points since the last poll, taken on February 2-5.
Mr Shorten’s net satisfaction rating has deteriorated to -28 points, the fourth poll in a row where his standing has declined on this measure.
See an archive of Newspoll results here