Coalition backers retreat in first Newspoll since election
Support for Labor has crept up as support has retreated for the Coalition, according to the first Newspoll since the May election.
Source: Instagram/Anthony Albanese
The survey, published in The Australian, shows a 1.4 percentage point rise in Labor’s primary vote since the election to 36 per cent while the Coalition slipped from 31.8 per cent to 29 per cent.
The Greens remained steady at 12 per cent, as did the independents and minor parties category on 15 per cent, while One Nation was up 1.6 percentage points to 8 per cent.
The 29 per cent primary vote number is the Coalition’s lowest reading in a Newspoll survey since it began in November 1985.
The combined Labor and Coalition primary vote total – at 65 per cent – is also at its lowest level in Newspoll history.
On a two-party-preferred basis, the Labor government has bolstered its lead of 55.2 per cent to 44.8 per cent on May 3 to 57 per cent to 43 per cent in the Newspoll.
“They are brutal numbers,” Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce told Seven’s Sunrise program on Monday.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a hard time … any person in a lower house seat … if you had a three in front of your primary vote you would be very, very worried.”
Albanese’s pre-election Newspoll net approval rating of -10 improved to zero in the survey published on Monday, with 47 per cent of voters satisfied with his performance and an equal number dissatisfied.
The poll has new Coalition leader Sussan Ley’s net approval rating at -7, an upgrade from her predecessor Peter Dutton’s -24. But 23 per cent of respondents indicated it was too early to judge Ley’s performance.
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The survey of 1264 voters was conducted online between July 14-17.
The 48th parliament has its official opening in Canberra on Tuesday.
MPs and senators were welcomed by Governor-General Sam Mostyn at Government House on Sunday as part of formalities before the start of the new session.
Labor will have an increased majority, holding 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives after its election triumph on May 3.
Albanese’s priorities
Childcare reform, cutting HECS debt, enshrining penalty rates and initiating a new class of Labor MPs are Albanese’s priorities as parliament resumes.
He has backed a greater role for the government in childcare as he prepares to push through legislation tightening up the sector following horrifying allegations of child abuse at Melbourne early learning centres.
Albanese had already pinpointed universal affordable childcare during the federal election campaign as the one reform he’d most want to be remembered for.
But the accusations levelled against Joshua Brown, whose 70 counts of alleged abuse, including child rape, have raised concerns that the rapid expansion of government subsidies into the sector has not been met with a commensurate increase in safety and scrutiny.
“It reinforces why you need a stronger Commonwealth role in childcare,” Albanese said when asked whether the case had changed his views on how to achieve his universal childcare ambition.
Commentators have criticised the model of handing subsidies to for-profit providers, arguing the incentive to cut costs and boost margins sacrifices standards and oversight.
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Asked whether he saw the sector being run more like public schools, Albanese said “we’ll see how that evolves”.
“I think it makes sense to have co-location of childcare centres wherever possible in schools. It is just a practical thing to be done,” he said.
“If you’re starting again, you would completely have co-location of childcare.
“I know as a parent, we had a public school in our street but we had to send our son to a different school that was driving distance – a short drive – but the next nearest school, because they had after-school care.
“That’s something that people across the board feel as well – that convenience. And that’s part of the productivity agenda.”
First, Education Minister Jason Clare will introduce legislation giving his department powers to conduct spot checks and pull funding from childcare centres deemed to be consistently failing safety and quality standards.
It’s one of four priorities Albanese identified for his first sitting fortnight back in parliament since his May election win.
From Tuesday, the government will also push forward legislation cutting student debt by 20 per cent and enshrine penalty rates into law.
The fourth priority, Albanese, said will be getting Labor’s 24 new members sworn in and ensuring they all become active MPs.
“I’m feeling very energised about parliament coming back and seeing the outcome of the election in real form,” he said.
“What that represents … is it gives the confidence that we were correct last term to prioritise people’s living standards and cost of living, dealing with those pressures, and that we’re correct to continue to prioritise that.
“You need to deliver for people what they need in order to then have the legitimacy to push forward on longer term changes.”
Albanese was feeling buoyant as he returned from last week’s successful six-day tour of China, where he balanced tensions over Chinese military build-up and a mutual desire to strengthen economic ties.
Amid Coalition criticism that he had failed to deliver enough tangible outcomes, Albanese hit back that it didn’t understand how patiently nurturing the relationship would pay dividends in the long-term.
Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor’s clumsy comments that Australia should be “prepared to act” alongside the US in conflict with China over Taiwan broke with the bipartisan “one China” policy in backing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, Albanese said.
His eye is on a Labor dynasty to carve out a positive future for Australia in a challenging region.
“One of the things we’re very determined to do is to have long-term Labor government in Australia so that we can implement the long-term changes that Australia needs,” he said.
“The world is changing fast and you can either shape that change or it will shape you.”
