A new poll has revealed Labor is pulling ahead in the election campaign as support for the Coalition and Peter Dutton plunges.
The Redbridge Group – Accent Research poll conducted between April 9 – 15 showed there has been a 9 per cent drop in the Coalition’s primary vote over the last two months – from 43 per cent down to 34 per cent.
Over the same period Labor’s primary vote has risen from 33 per cent to 35 per cent.
The Coalition’s attacks on Labor over the cost of living appear to have missed the mark with 36 per cent of respondents agreeing Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party had the best election promises for them.
While only 26 per cent said Mr Dutton and the Coalition had the best election promises.
Another 10 per cent of voters said they were about the same, while the remaining said neither or they were not sure.
The poll looked at 20 marginal seats and of those surveyed, 42 per cent agreed that ‘Peter Dutton will cut Medicare if he is elected’, while 26 per cent disagreed.
On a two-party preferred basis, respondents in the seats polled sided with Labor at 54.5 per cent ahead of the Coalition at 45.5 per cent.
Anthony Albanese can afford a relaxing walk as new polls show Labor is pulling ahead (pictured with his fiancé Jodie Haydon, Labor member for Bennelong Jerome Laxale, his partner Jo Taranto and dogs Toto and Toby at Lane Cove West)
Peter Dutton is feeling the heat as the LNP lags in the polls (pictured as he helped cook some snags at the Royal Easter Show on Saturday)
The poll also showed that 56 per cent of those surveyed agreed with the ALP’s claim that the Coalition’s nuclear plants will cost $600billion and Mr Dutton will need to make cuts to pay for them.
Australians will head to the polls on May 3, with Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton on Saturday both taking the opportunity to visit Sydney’s Royal Easter Show.
According to The Australian, Mr Albanese’s top strategists are of the opinion he can claim a majority government as multiple seats in NSW and Victoria appear to be moving in Labor’s favour.
Polls show some 20 per cent of voters remain undecided, with the remaining two weeks of the election campaign crucial for both parties.
Principal at Accent Research Shaun Ratcliff said Australians were not buying into the Coalition’s attack point that ‘Australia is poorer, less safe and more divided because of Anthony Albanese’.
‘While the majority of voters who already intend to give the Coalition their first preference agree with this, most others do not, and it also resonates less well with soft voters than those who have already locked in their vote,’ he said.
‘Something that should ring alarm bells in the Coalition campaign is that soft and leaning voters in particular are turning on the Liberal and National parties, and Peter Dutton, and warming to Albanese and Labor.’
Meanwhile, the latest YouGov poll released yesterday showed the Coalition tied with Labor for first preferences after its primary vote fell to 33 per cent.
Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton and wife Kirilly at the Sikh Games Festival at The Crest Reserve in Bass Hill on Friday
Projected seats from YouGov, based on daily vote intention data
If the poll results were replicated at the May 3 election, the Coalition would receive its lowest share of primary votes since the Liberal Party was formed in 1944.
YouGov’s director of public data Paul Smith said a miracle was need by the opposition with the election just two weeks away.
‘This is a dramatic fall from the Coalition’s position only a few weeks ago in February from being in the box seat to win the election,’ he said.
‘It would take a historic turnaround for the Coalition to win … given voters are already receiving their postal votes and pre-poll starts on Tuesday.’
