Newspoll: PM’s cheap Albo shot amid dismal ratings

Scott Morrison has made a dig against Anthony Albanese and his dramatic weight loss amid shock results from the latest Newspoll.

Scott Morrison has made a dig against Anthony Albanese and his new makeover, claiming that unlike the Labor leader, he’s not “pretending to be anyone else”.

The PM made the comments at a Sky News ‘town hall’ meeting on Monday night with voters on the NSW Central Coast.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has shed the kilos and adopted a new image. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

Mr Morrison suggested that Mr Albanese’s 18kg weight loss and lifestyle transformation meant the Opposition Leader doesn’t know who he is.

“I’m not pretending to be anyone else. I’m still wearing the same glasses,” Mr Morrison told host Paul Murray to laughter and applause from the audience.

“Sadly, the same suits (too). I weigh about the same size and I don’t mind a bit of Italian cake either. I’m happy in my own skin, I’m not pretending to be anyone else.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is gearing up for the election. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“And when you’re Prime Minister, you can’t pretend to be anyone else. You’ve got to know who you are, because if you don’t know who you are, then how are other people going to know?’

NEWSPOLL SHOWS TRUST ISSUES

Scott Morrison remains the least trusted prime minister in more than a decade and Anthony Albanese is running a very close second.

Both men have a trust deficit with the electorate with overall confidence in national political leadership declining, an exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows.

Labor Party, Anthony Albanese and Labor Candidate for Forde, Rowan Holzberger at Shailer Park State High School in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

Mr Morrison recorded the lowest score for a prime minister since this question was first asked in 2008, The Australian reports.

Voters still regard Mr Morrison as a more experienced leader than Mr Albanese but consider the Prime Minister to be less caring and more arrogant.

Anthony Albanese has drawn level with Scott Morrison as Australia’s preferred PM. Picture: NCA NewsWire/John Gass

Mr Albanese is now neck-and-neck with Scott Morrison as ­preferred prime minister for the first time in more than two years as the Coalition battles to regain electoral territory from Labor.

With the federal election due to be called shortly after the budget in two weeks’ time, the Newspoll shows Labor keeping its six-point lead over the Coalition.

The latest survey, which covers a time frame dominated by the NSW and Queensland flood ­disaster, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and significant defence ­announcements by the government, shows no movement in the underlying support for both major parties since the last poll was conducted two weeks ago.

Anthony Albanese, pictured in 2016, has overhauled his image ahead of the election. Picture: AAP

The Coalition remains on a primary vote of 35 per cent. Labor is also unchanged at 41 per cent.

On a two-party-preferred split, based on preference flows from the last election, Labor continues to lead the Coalition 55 to 45 – a margin that it has maintained for the past three surveys.

The minor parties showed the only real movement in voter intention with the Greens dropping down one point to eight per cent. The Greens are down almost 2.5 points on its 2019 election ­result.

Anthony Albanese has closed in on Scott Morrison. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dylan Robinson

Scott Morrison has a fight on his hands. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

Pauline Hanson’s One ­Nation remains on three per cent, ­staying at the level of support at the last election, while Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, which is spending more than the major parties on election advertising, dropped a point to three per cent.

While there has been a nominal shift in the overall approval ­ratings for either the Prime ­Minister or Opposition Leader, with Mr Morrison trailing Mr Albanese by 16 points, he is now tied with the Labor leader on the question of who voters think would make the better prime minister.

While marking only a two-point improvement for the Opposition Leader, it is the first time since the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020 that Mr Morrison hasn’t been in front of Mr Albanese.

Mr Morrison has faced criticism over the Coalition’s response to the flood ­disaster in northern NSW, with the government accused of moving too slowly to make a national-emergency ­declaration.

– with The Australian