Coalition and opposition are 50-50 on a two-party-preferred basis and Berejiklian leads opposition leader Michael Daley as preferred premier

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, is facing a minority government or a slim majority after the next election, according to the latest Newspoll.

The Coalition and the opposition are 50-50 on a two-party-preferred basis, although Labor’s primary vote is up two points to 36%.

That’s an improvement for the Berejiklian government, which was trailing the opposition 52-48 in December, the Australian reports.

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The government would be left without a majority if it loses six seats, which is within the range of Wednesday’s Newspoll and other recent polls and raises the prospect of a hung parliament. Labor needs to win 13 seats to form government, requiring a swing of about 9%.

Stuart Ayres, the minister for sport, acknowledged the election would be tight. Ayres holds the Western Sydney seat of Penrith on a margin of 6.2% and said MPs would have to work their “backside off” to hold onto their seats. Ayres won Penrith, which was previously a safe Labor seat, at a byelection in 2010.

Berejiklian leads opposition leader Michael Daley as preferred premier by 44-31, but the number of voters dissatisfied with her performance has risen.

Daley said the poll showed voters were angry about failures of the NSW government, but said there was “a long way to go” before the election.

“All I can do is get out and shake hands with as many people and see as many communities as I can.”

The results come a day after the high court struck down NSW laws limiting the amount of money that could be spent by third parties, such as unions, during elections campaigns.

The decision, which was welcomed by unions, raises the prospect of a significant union campaign in the lead-up to the 23 March poll.

Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey said they were “ecstatic” at the result.

“We’ve basically run this case twice now and both times the high court has said the legislation is trying to silence [the government’s] critics and is not valid,” he told Guardian Australia.