Turnbull’s personal rating has fallen significantly for the first time since he became prime minister, but the Coalition retains a sizeable two-party-preferred lead

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The messy end to the parliamentary year has taken some gloss off Malcolm Turnbull’s personal popularity, but the Coalition retains an election-winning lead and Bill Shorten’s standing has also plunged to new lows, the latest Newspoll shows.

The poll shows satisfaction with Turnbull’s performance fell eight points to 52% and dissatisfaction increased eight points to 30% after a parliamentary fortnight that included sustained scrutiny of the special minister of state, Mal Brough, and Ian Macfarlane’s defection from the Liberals to the Nationals.

But people’s voting intentions remained stable, with the Coalition maintaining 53% support after preferences and Labor staying on 47%, a similar breakdown to the government’s 2013 election victory.

Future tense for Turnbull as Brough and Abbott recall Coalition's imperfect past Read more

The poll published by the Australian on Tuesday shows Shorten also suffered a drop in his already languishing personal approval ratings. Satisfaction with Shorten fell three points to 23% while dissatisfaction with him increased four points to 61%.

The movements leave Shorten with a net approval rating – the satisfaction rating minus the dissatisfaction rating – of minus 38 points, compared with Turnbull’s net score of plus 22 points.

Turnbull’s support as preferred prime minister fell four points to 60%, while Shorten’s score fell one point to 14%.

The Australian said the 14% level matched Simon Crean’s record low for a Labor leader and corresponded with a result Turnbull also registered before Tony Abbott ousted him as Liberal opposition leader in 2009.

Shorten played down his poor standing in the polls. At a media conference on Tuesday, he attributed the results to “a sense of national relief” at the dumping of Tony Abbott and the fact Turnbull had yet to face any serious economic tests.

“Tony Abbott was effectively sticking a needle in the eye of the Australian people,” Shorten said.

“The Liberals got there first, so, of course, they’ve got the bonus of the post-Abbott honeymoon. We see that beginning to edge off.”

Shorten pointed to the 16-point drop in Turnbull’s net satisfaction rating, suggesting voters were responding to Labor raising questions about Turnbull’s judgment in the Brough issue. The Labor leader rejected any suggestion he might consider quitting for the good of the party.

“I won’t quit because I don’t quit,” Shorten said.

Turnbull, who continued to promote the government’s innovation plan on Tuesday, was asked whether he was concerned by the dip in his popularity. “I am unruffled,” he replied.

Newspoll surveyed 1,616 people from Thursday to Sunday, capturing voter sentiment at the end of the 2015 parliamentary sittings ahead of an election year.

The primary votes remained fairly stable, with Labor maintaining a level of 33%, the Coalition dropping one point to 45%, the Greens increasing one point to 12%, and independents and other parties remaining level at 10%.



The poll has a maximum margin of sampling error of plus or minus three points.