Support for the Coalition has fallen below levels recorded during the 2022 election amid a wave of personal approval for Anthony Albanese.
A Newspoll for The Australian on Sunday found support for the Coalition and Peter Dutton has drastically dropped compared to earlier this year when the majority of voters believed it would win the May 3 election.
Voters who planned on backing the Coalition fell one point to 35 per cent from a high of 40 per cent in November and 39 per cent in January.
It’s the lowest support for the party has sunk since the failed Voice referendum in October 2023.
Personal support for Mr Dutton has also dropped with his approval rating now sitting at the lowest recorded for an opposition leader during an election campaign since Bill Shorten.
Mr Dutton’s approval rating fell one point to 37 per cent while his dissatisfaction rating rose to 56 per cent, resulting in a net rating of -19.
Meanwhile, Mr Albanese’s net rating rose to -4, up from -20 recorded in February, his worst result since the last federal election.
Out of Mr Dutton and Mr Albanese, voters preferred Mr Albanese as the next prime minister.
Mr Albanese’s net rating rose to -4, up from -20 recorded in February, his worst result since the last federal election (pictured, Mr Albanese, his son Nathan and partner Jodie Haydon)
Support for the Coalition and Peter Dutton has drastically dropped compared to earlier this year
Despite the PM’s survey victories, support for Labor’s primary vote remained low at just 33 per cent for the third successive poll.
Support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party has risen with its primary vote now sitting at eight per cent, three points higher than recorded at the 2022 election.
The Greens’ results remained the same at 12 per cent with the same figure recorded for other minor parties and independents.
Labor won the two-party-preferred vote 52 per cent to the Coalition’s 48 per cent for the second consecutive week.
However, the majority of voters hoped the upcoming election will result in a hung parliament or a minor Labor government forming a coalition with the Greens or independents.
Only 15 per cent of those surveyed said they were in favour of a Coalition minority government.
The shift in favour is very noticeable when comparing the latest results to those collected in January which tipped the Coalition as the winner of the election at 53 per cent versus 47 per cent for Labor.
Older and younger voters were most divided over whether they wanted a majority or minority government.
Labor won the two-party-preferred vote 52 per cent to the Coalition’s 48 per cent for the second consecutive week
More than half, 53 per cent, of 18 to 34-year-olds were in favour of a hung parliament with either a minority Labor government or minority Coalition government.
In comparison, only 12 per cent of voters over 65 wanted a minority government, preferably Labor.
The most recent Newspoll was conducted between April 7 and April 10.
