Anthony Albanese has jetted into Perth ahead of his first campaign appearance in WA on the back of a wave of improved polls, showing Labor improving its chances of a second term.
As the Prime Minister touched down on Sunday afternoon, a Newspoll from The Australian showed Labor had turned around a slowly sliding voter support, returning its primary vote to 33 per cent — the same level in 2022 when it won power.
The Coalition vote slipped to 37 per cent — its lowest for the year — from a high point of 39 per cent.
The post-Budget bump lifted Labor to a two-party preferred vote of 51 per cent over the Coalition’s 49 per cent, and is the first time in nine months the Government have been ahead of the Opposition.
The result would still produce a hung Parliament, but would have the Government closer to a majority in its own right.
Mr Albanese also recorded a rise in his net approval — after a week of a sales pitch over his Budget and officially calling the election on Friday — to -9 per cent.
Mr Dutton’s net approval dropped to -18 per cent.
Camera IconAlbanese started the day in Canberra, plugging a new crackdown on supermarkets “taking the piss” with consumers, and promising to outlaw price-gouging, targeting a key cost-of-living concern for voters in the lead up to May 3 election day. Credit: LUKAS COCH/AAPIMAGE
But the Budget, where Labor handed down a $5 a week tax cut all Australians, was marked down by voters, with just 22 per cent believing it was good for the economy, compared to 32 per cent who felt it was bad.
Asked on whether they would be better off, just 16 per cent of voters thought their own budgets would be stronger in the next 12 months, compared with 35 per cent.
But voters also cast doubt on the Coalition, with 47 per cent believing the Liberals could not have delivered a better budget.
It came amid a flurry of election polls, with YouGov showing Labor on a 75 seats in a range of between 69 and 80 — putting them just short of forming power for a second term.
