Voters back premiers during coronavirus pandemic as PM’s approval rating skyrockets
Voters in every state have backed their premiers response to the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a Newspoll. See who is the leader of the pack.
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Nearly all state premiers are enjoying high approval ratings as voters back their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Newspoll.
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan enjoyed the highest net approval rating of 83 per cent, with 94 per cent saying he was handling COVID-19 well, according to the poll conducted for The Australian.
Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein’s net approval rating was 73 per cent and 89 per cent supported his coronavirus response.
Next in line was Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews with a net approval rating of 58 per cent followed by South Australian Premier Steven Marshall (47) and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (46).
The Victorian premier’s coronavirus response was backed by 85 per cent, compared with 82 per cent support for Mr Marshall and 77 per cent who said Ms Berejiklian was handling the crisis well.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk lagged with a net approval rating of 16 per cent, though 72 per cent thought she handled the coronavirus well.
The survey polled 2908 voters in all six states between April 21 and April 26.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s net approval rating stands at 68 per cent, the highest for a prime minister since 2008.
But while Mr Morrison enjoys strong support from the Australian electorate, the Coalition itself is not viewed as favourably.
The gap between the Coalition and Labor is narrowing with both parties at a stalemate of 50-50 in a two-party-preferred system, a separate Newspoll for The Australian found.
The Coalition has dropped one point to 41 per cent since the last poll.
Support for Labor is up two points to 36 per cent — a two-point turnaround after preferences.
Mr Morrison’s optimism about JobKeeper payments, and the potential reopening of schools for term two, has increased his personal popularity.
The government rejected a proposed $1.4 billion bailout for struggling Virgin Australia, which was backed by Labor leader Anthony Albanese.
Mr Morrison’s approval rating rose another seven points to 68 per cent, constituting an extraordinary spike of 27 points since March, the highest approval rating for a prime minister since the end of 2008, when Mr Rudd’s popularity peaked at 70 per cent.
Mr Morrison also extended his lead over opposition leader Anthony Albanese as the preferred prime minister, up three points to 56 per cent as Mr Albanese dropped to 28 per cent.
It is a dramatic turnaround for Mr Morrison, who had fallen behind his challenger just two months ago at 40-41 in the storm of criticism surrounding his response to Australia’s bushfire crisis.
Mr Albanese’s approval rating has remained steady at 45 per cent and overall, the opposition leader remains in positive territory.
The Greens and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation have lost ground.
One Nation fell a point to 4 per cent, barely ahead of the levels recorded at the election.
The Greens fell one point to 12 per cent, leaving them slightly ahead of where they were at the election.
Other minor parties were up a point to 7 per cent.
The Newspoll was conducted between April 22 and April 25 and surveyed 1519 people online.
— with The Australian
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