LABOR’S attempt to decouple itself from the Greens and its continuing shower of cash handouts to middle Australia have failed to lift its popularity, with the latest Newspoll putting the Gillard government’s primary vote at 28 per cent – two percentage points off its record low.
Instead of the lift Labor had been hoping for, its support fell below 30 per cent for the first time in three months.
At the same time, voter satisfaction with Tony Abbott is at its worst level on record – 30 per cent – despite the Coalition maintaining a commanding lead of 56 per cent to 44 per cent in two-party-preferred terms.
The Opposition Leader, however, has extended his lead over Julia Gillard as preferred prime minister to four points – 40 per cent to 36 per cent – a one-percentage-point gain on the poll taken a fortnight ago. The Newspoll, conducted exclusively for The Australian last weekend, followed a week of Labor attacks on the Greens over fears the minor party’s deal to support the minority Gillard government could damage Labor’s long-term prospects by alienating socially conservative Labor voters in suburban and regional electorates.
It came amid ongoing tension over the Labor leadership, after chief whip Joel Fitzgibbon, widely seen to be a supporter of former leader Kevin Rudd, angered colleagues a week ago by saying it was inevitable that leaders who could not produce competitive results in opinion polls lost their jobs.
Mr Fitzgibbon’s intervention shone a light on long-running promises by the Prime Minister’s supporters that the party’s primary vote, stuck for months around 30 per cent, would improve after the July 1 introduction of the carbon tax.
However, Labor’s rating rose only one percentage point to 31 per cent in the first post-July 1 poll – taken a fortnight ago – before dropping three points in the latest poll. The fall came even as Labor continued to provide cash handouts to voters in the form of education bonuses, higher family benefits and carbon tax compensation.
Former Labor senator Graham Richardson wrote last week that one of several factors that would be required before a leadership change took place would be “Newspoll needs to come out in the next month with a two in front of the first preference number”. “That would be all the catalyst a fractious caucus would need,” Mr Richardson wrote in The Australian last Friday.
Last week, Rudd supporters declared Ms Gillard must lift Labor’s primary vote to 38 per cent by the resumption of parliament on August 14 to placate her critics.
The last time Labor sank to a sub-30 per cent primary vote was in a poll conducted from April 27-29, while it reached its record low of 26 per cent in September last year.
Newspoll put the Coalition’s primary support at 46 per cent – down two percentage points – with the Greens steady on 11 per cent. The five percentage points lost by the major parties moved into the “others” column, which rose from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. The Coalition’s two-party- preferred lead over Labor of 56 per cent to 44 per cent was unchanged in the past fortnight.
Read more, The Australian here
• Tas economy weaker: CommSec report
Unemployment has been identified as Tasmania’s biggest weakness in a new report.
In the latest CommSec State of the States report, Tasmania is the worst performer in five of the eight indicators.
Tasmania scored lowest in the categories of employment, retail trade, population growth, construction work and housing finance.
The report says rising unemployment and slow population growth are holding back retail spending and overall economic development.
CommSec’s chief economist Craig James says the state’s economy has weakened over the last quarter.
He says the Government could look at providing housing incentives.
Business investment in equipment was identified as Tasmania’s biggest strength and the report says there is hope that sector will spark economic momentum.
The State Opposition’s Jeremy Rockliff has accused the Government of failing to take action to stimulate the economy.
“A very, very poor performance from the Labor-Green Government,” he said.
The Premier, Lara Giddings, says it is important to maintain balance and acknowledge the state’s strengths, despite the pressure on traditional industries, such as forestry.
Ms Giddings highlighted the report’s statement that strong private investment in equipment could boost economic momentum.
