Newspoll: PM Tony Abbott, Coalition Slumps in Ratings While Bill Shorten, Labor Shines
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and the Coalition government has failed to outperform the Australian Labor Party in the latest Newspoll. The poll results may be an indication of the Abbott government's collapse as Labor leads as the most preferred political party in a two-party basis.
Due to declining support, Mr Abbott and the Coalition government have lost their carbon tax advantage. The latest Newspoll results were published in The Australian on Dec. 10 and showed the margin gained by the Coalition in the election was long gone in just three short months.
The Australian Labor Party wins the two-party preferred vote with 52 per cent compared to the Coalition's 48 per cent. The latest poll result only confirms the Nielsen poll which was the first survey after the election. The Nielson poll also showed Labor leading the Coalition despite the latter having a landslide victory on Sept. 7.
The Newspoll result is the Coalition government's lowest vote since Tony Abbott had launched a campaign against Labor's carbon tax policy in 2011.
According to Newspoll, Australian voters are more satisfied with Labor's leader Bill Shorten than Prime Minister Tony Abbott whose voter satisfaction rating dropped to 40 per cent and dissatisfaction rating rose to 45 per cent.
Australians are more satisfied with Mr Shorten with a rating of 44 per cent. His dissatisfaction rating remained unchanged at 27 per cent.
Declining support for direct action plan
The Age-Nielsen poll had interviewed 1,400 Australians and found that the majority wanted to meet the country's commitment to reduce emissions by 5 per cent by 2020. While the Australian Labour Party and the Coalition have agreed to meet the minimum target, the poll showed most Aussies prefer the policy Labour adopted in the last election which was the emissions trading scheme.
Majority of Australians want the carbon tax repealed but don't want Prime Minister Tony Abbott's direct action plan as an alternative policy. In a new poll, 57 per cent of Australians rejected Labour's carbon tax law and only 12 per cent believed in Mr Abbott's policy.
Twenty-nine per cent of voters preferred the emissions trading scheme to fight the effects of global warming, while 24 per cent voted for "some other policy." The results of the poll came after a leading business group in Australia expressed concerns about Mr Abbott's direct action plan and the government's call to encourage public opinion on the $1.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF).
