Newspoll: Scott Morrison takes hit in polls after Wentworth debacle
SCOTT Morrison’s approval rating has taken a hit for the first time as voters punish the Coalition — and Malcolm Turnbull appears to be loving it.
National
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PRIME Minister Scott Morrison’s approval ratings have plunged into negative territory for the first time as voters punish the Coalition for the disastrous Wentworth by-election result, which has left the country with a hung Parliament.
Mr Morrison brushed off the results today - but his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull appears to be enjoying voters’ ire at his former colleagues.
The former prime minister’s Twitter account has “liked” the latest Newspoll results which show Mr Morrison’s rating as preferred prime minister dropped two points and Opposition leader Bill Shorten’s rose one point after the by-election drubbing and a horror two weeks in Parliament.
The poll, conducted for The Australian, also shows voter satisfaction with Mr Morrison’s job performance over the past two weeks has dropped four points to 41 per cent, although he still holds the lead over Mr Shorten.
Mr Turnbull maintained a negative approval rating in all but one poll after the 2016 election.
Dismissing the Newspoll result today, Mr Morrison said: “These things will bounce around, and that’s the case for all politicians. It doesn’t distract me from the job I have.”
Tony Abbott has predicted a smoother ride for Mr Morrison in the next six months before the federal election, declaring that internal divisions in the Liberal Party “will be better handled now that some leading players have changed”.
In a not-so-veiled swipe at Mr Turnbull in an opinion piece in The Australian today, he added that Mr Morrison would not face “any personal hostility from the so-called Right” of the party “because he has no wish to marginalise them”.
Mr Abbott also praised Mr Morrison for giving him and Barnaby Joyce special envoy positions and stated that it was a “clash of personalities” that had hurt the party in the past five years rather than philosophical differences.
“It goes without saying that the next election will be tough. But under Morrison, it won’t be internal division that holds us back,” Mr Abbott writes.
“We can’t change the self-inflicted wounds of the past five years, the squandered majority, and the fact that we’re seeking a third term against the Labor Party, the Greens, the unions and GetUp.
“But against this, Morrison will have a fierce will to win, unbounded energy, political savvy, and the whole Liberal tribe cheering him on.”
Meanwhile, voters have shown in the latest poll that they are not keen for an early election, but want the government to serve its full term with 58 per cent wanting the parliament to run a full term with an election to be held when it falls due next year.
The number of voters unhappy with the new leader jumped a substantial six points to 44 per cent.
Mr Morrison now rivals the quick fall from grace of both Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd (in his second go as PM), and has been a quicker drop than other prime ministers since 1996.
The Morrison government’s numbers also dropped — now another point back on a two-party-preferred basis to trail Labor 46-54.
A slight boost in the Coalition’s primary vote, which gained steam in the last poll, also went backwards. It dropped a point to 36 per cent, returning the government to where it was a month ago.
On the latest poll, the government would likely lose 19 seats if an election outcome was based on these results — not including the loss of Wentworth on October 20.
