Anthony Albanese making up lost ground in Queensland

New poll results Labor Leader Anthony Albanese may have started healing the rift with Queensland, following the shock thrashing of the party in May. Take a look at the data.

LABOR has begun clawing back ground after replacing the deeply unpopular Bill Shorten but is yet to pose a serious threat to Scott Morrison’s prolonged post-election honeymoon.

Exclusive The Sunday Mail/YouGov polling signals the first green shoots for the Anthony Albanese-led federal opposition after Labor’s shock election loss in May.

The bump in voters switching onto Labor follows criticisms of Mr Shorten’s campaign performance and Labor’s decision to stick with him despite his low popularity.

Former Labor leader Kevin Rudd last week lashed out at Mr Shorten’s “cardinal” mistakes ahead of the poll defeat, singling out the propose shaking up if negative gearing and franking credits while in Opposition and indecision over the Adani coalmine in Queensland.

But the poll indicates Mr Alabanese has begun to heal the wound, with a 2.3 per cent jump in voters saying they would back Labor at the next election compared to in May.

Results of latest YouGov survey

On a two-party preferred basis, Labor’s support has inched from 41.6 per cent to 45 per cent since the election, while the LNP slipped from 58.4 per cent to 55 per cent.

Results of latest YouGov survey

The uptrend for Labor comes as Mr Albanese indicates the Opposition could support the Coalition’s freshly released draft religious discrimination bill.

The bill aims to protect people of faith who make “statements of belief” from discrimination in the wake of the Israel Folau controversy.

Labor Senator Kristina Keneally has previously lashed Labor’s federal campaign for ignoring the concerns of religious people.

While Labor picks up ground, most voters, however, want to keep Mr Morrison as leader.

His lead is vast, with 46 per cent of voters supporting him to Mr Albanese’s 23 per cent.

Griffith University senior political lecturer Paul Williams said Labor’s shifting popularity showed the “boil of Bill Shorten has been lanced”, but Mr Morrison may have peaked.

“I would attribute it almost wholly to the removal of the deeply unpopular Bill Shorten and his replacement with a much more appealing Albanese, who given his (inaudible) blue collar background would resonate more with regional Queensland and the outer suburbs of Brisbane.

“Also I think there is probably a little bit of the sting taken out of Adani given the coal mine has gone ahead. But most of it is with the personality.

“The polling doesn’t show the Morrison honeymoon is over. But I suspect it has peaked and this is as good as it’s going to get. I think you will see a decline in Morrison’s appeal over time.”

Support for the Greens has also risen slightly since May, according to the poll.

And 4.1 per cent more voters would choose Pauline Hanson’s One Nation amid Ms Hanson’s controversial but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to make a political point by scaling Uluru.

Queensland’s State Opposition meanwhile has seized on Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s falling popularity in the latest YouGov polling as a loss of confidence in her leadership amid the Jackie Trad integrity crisis over the purchase of a Woolloongabba investment property.

Deputy opposition leader Tim Mander has called on the Premier to “take decisive action against Jackie Trad,” saying the polling showed “she cannot be trusted by most people.”

Mr Mander said it was focused on showing it was a “viable alternative”. “The more people that get to know (Opposition leader) Deb Frecklington the more people will like her,” he said.

Ms Palaszczuk yesterday vowed she would “not hesitate to take quick action” once the Crime and Corruption Commission finished its assessment of the property purchase.