Australia’s opposition Labor Party has gained ground on the governing coalition, one of the nation’s leading opinion polls revealed on Monday.
The latest Newspoll, which was published by The Australian on Monday, revealed that the coalition’s lead on a two-party preferred basis has fallen slightly from 52-48 in October to 51-49, reports Xinhua news agency.
The most significant movement in the poll was in the approval rating for the party’s leader Anthony Albanese.
The portion of voters satisfied with Albanese’s performance rose by 4 points to 43 per cent while the percentage of those dissatisfied fell by the same margin to 39 per cent.
It gives the Labor Party leader a net satisfaction rating of positive 4, his highest since May and the first time it has been positive since August.
However, Albanese’s approval rating continues to be dwarfed by that of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
Morrison’s approval rating was 64 per cent and his net approval rating positive 32 per cent, down slightly from plus-34 in October but still marking consecutive months with a rating above 30 per cent – a major turnaround from a low of negative 22 at the height of Australia’s bushfire crisis in January.
The incumbent also maintained his lead as voters’ preferred Prime Minister with 58 per cent choosing Morrison, up from 57 per cent in October, compared to 29 percent for Albanese, up from 28 per cent.
The poll of 1,510 voters across mainland capital cities and the regions was taken between November 4-7.