ALP holding 54-46 lead over Coalition on two-party preferred terms, while One Nation’s primary vote rises to 13%

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

As the Western Australian official election campaign enters its second day, new polling shows the ALP strengthening its lead over the Coalition and a surge in the One Nation vote.

The Newspoll survey published in the Australian shows Labor holding a 54-46 lead on two-party preferred terms – up from 52-48 in the last Newspoll in October. If the election were held today, voters would deliver a 1.5% swing towards Labor, giving Mark McGowan’s opposition a 14-seat majority.

One Nation’s primary vote in WA has increased from 3% to 13%, that could result in the party holding the balance of power in the state’s upper house.

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The Liberal party’s primary vote has decreased to just 30%, but Labor also saw a slump in its primary support from 41% to 38%.

The strong polling for One Nation is likely to increase pressure on the premier, Colin Barnett, to enter into a preference deal with the minority party, but such an arrangement could spark political divisions between the Liberals and Nationals. However, One Nation’s leader in WA, Colin Tincknell, ruled out entering into preference deals with any of the major parties.

The National’s campaign launch is scheduled for the south-west town of Bunbury on Friday, with leader Brendon Grylls likely to be quizzed over his contentious plan to increase an iron ore charge paid by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto by twentyfold. The plan has angered the mining companies and the Chamber of Minerals and Energy.

But Grylls, who won the support of country voters with his Royalties for Regions program in 2008, says the charge hasn’t increased since it was introduced in the 1960s.

He argues his hike will raise $7.2bn for government coffers, which is sorely needed because the state isn’t getting its fair share of GST revenue.

While Barnett has refused to commit to adopting the policy if the Liberal-National alliance is returned for a third term, he stood up for Grylls on Thursday, saying he wasn’t happy with the industry’s campaign against the Pilbara MP.

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Barnett will be staying in the metropolitan area while the federal opposition leader, Bill Shorten, will spend a second day in Perth.

Shorten said he would be back again before the 11 March poll.

“Malcolm Turnbull may or may not find time in his busy diary to come to the west but I think he should, because I think he needs to hear from ordinary people about the real issues,” the Labor leader said.