Scott Morrison, Anthony Albanese: Approval ratings take a hit across the board

The Australian‘s most recent Newspoll results have come back with dismal approval ratings feedback for Prime Minister Scott Morrison. In what would usually be an exciting moment for the opposition, celebrations turned sour as the results equally as appalling for Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese.

The approval ratings for preferred prime minister were down for both major parties. Morrison’s approval ratings revealed that he has hit his lowest mark since the 2019-2020 bushfire crisis, in which he was widely criticised for holidaying in Hawaii whilst Australia was ablaze.

These ratings found that the alternative option for PM, Anthony Albanese, is also suffering in the polls, hitting his lowest low thus far in the polls. Albanese’s approval rating is currently at -11.

If an election were called today, just 37 percent of voters would side with the Coalition, and 38 percent would vote for Labor. While this gives labor a minor advantage, these numbers would mean that a win would not be secured for either of the major parties in the ballot box. However, in a two party preferred basis, Newspoll voters preferred Labor, with the ALP securing 53 percent of the vote, and only 47 percent of the vote going to the Coalition. These results show only marginal improvement across the polling period from September 15-18, for Labor, on the last Newspoll.

Meanwhile, support for One Nation and Greens has also stagnated, while the ‘smaller party’ category has seen a surge, with 12 percent of voters saying they’d vote for an independent party in the primary instance, over either of the major parties.

This is the highest numbers of supporters for smaller parties and independents since the Newspoll survey began in 2018.

These latest Newspoll results come as Scott Morrison’s cabinet is reshuffled following Christian Porter’s announcement of  resignation from cabinet. This resignation – having been called for by the public for the duration of 2021 due to various ongoing controversies – comes in the latest unfolding scandal concerning Porter. This hinges on he undisclosed donor who bankrolled the legal fees Porter needed for his ongoing defamation law suit.