Newspoll: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull slumps to 30 straight Newspoll losses
PETER Dutton has revealed he wants to be prime minister in the future, but denies he is about to challenge Malcolm Turnbull who has just had his 30th Newspoll loss. HAVE YOUR SAY
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HOME Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has revealed how he wants to be prime minister one day but denies he is about to challenge Malcolm Turnbull.
Mr Dutton told 3AW today had ambitions for the top job, but is loyal to Mr Turnbull.
“There are 149 people in the federal parliament, I’m one and I think the other 148, if they’re being honest, would tell you if the opportunity came their way they’d be interested as well,” he said.
“There are lots of reasons why you would want to lead … what I think is the greatest country in the world.
“That’s something that many parliamentarians aspire to and I think opportunities can come. But for me, as I say, loyalty is important and I’ve made a virtue of that.”
He added that Mr Turnbull was wrong to cite 30 Newspoll losses as a reason for challenging Tony Abbott for the leadership in 2015.
“I don’t think it is right and history demonstrates that. I think politics can turn on a dime, there are issues that can change votes over night,” he said.
“I think there is always a pressure on leaders in these situations, there is no question about that, Malcolm says he regrets having used the 30 Newspoll statement and he has been honest about that.
“But for us now we need to concentrate, not on polls and not on who likes who, it is about what is important to the Australian public.”
ABBOTT’S SURPRISE NEWSPOLL REACTION
TONY Abbott says Malcolm Turnbull needs a “united team” to win the next election but he won’t apologise for speaking out against the government’s policies.
It comes as Prime Minister Turnbull suffered his 30th Newspoll defeat in a row, the same benchmark he used to roll Mr Abbott for the Liberal leadership in 2015.
“You wouldn’t expect me to say silent,” Mr Abbott told reporters today when asked if he took any responsibility for the government’s poor standing with voters.
“I guess one of the differences between me and some of my colleagues is that if I’ve got something to say, I don’t ring up a journalist and whisper poison into their ears,” Mr Abbott said.
“I say it upfront, openly and I put my name to it — and I think that is something we need to see more of in our politics.”
Mr Abbott dodged questions about whether he felt vindicated by Mr Turnbull’s 30th Newspoll loss but backed his own record, telling 2GB that the Liberal Party gained 25 seats with him in the top job.
“It’s not about me, it’s got to be about our country,” he said in a surprise reaction.
He also said that Mr Turnbull should explain why his 30th Newspoll loss is not the same as the test he used to depose the former prime minister.
He said it was Mr Turnbull who set the test of consecutive Newspoll losses.
Mr Abbott, on the other hand, “thought the important thing was winning elections”. “It’s really, I suppose, something for Malcolm to explain why it applied to me, but shouldn’t apply now,” he said.
In the latest Newspoll, conducted exclusively for The Australian, the government had a minor rebound with voters.
The Coalition increased its standing by one point to trail Labor by 48 to 52 per cent on a two party preferred basis.
It’s the best result for the government since the start of the year, and equal to its result before the Barnaby Joyce love child scandal.
Prime Minister Turnbull said today he regretted highlighting Mr Abbott’s 30 Newspoll losses when he challenged him for the leadership.
He defended his track record on his promises at the time for strong economic leadership and a traditional cabinet government.
“I do have the confidence of my colleagues and no-one is suggesting I don’t,” Mr Turnbull told reporters in Sydney.
“What Australians want us to focus on is their jobs, they want us to focus on their child care services, they want us to focus on schools, they want us to focus on hospitals and health. “They want us to focus on national security and they want us to ensure that great jobs remain in Australia — now, we’re delivering on all of those things.
“That’s what Australians want me to focus on. They don’t want me to focus on personalities or the politics.”
Asked why he thought the government was trailing Labor in the polls, Mr Abbott told reporters: “Government is hard. Malcolm Turnbull and I know this better than anyone.”
“The best way to be a good government is to have clear policies, to have a united team and to be obviously distinct from your opponents,” he said.
“That’s what I tried to do in government and I’m sure that’s what the prime minister is trying to be and to do at the moment.”
Mr Abbott said Australia shouldn’t “obsess over polls”.
“What we should be focused on is being the best possible government and winning an election,” he said while arguing for his preferred policies.
“We should be the party of low power prices and that means more coal-fired power generation in this country.
“We should be the party of higher wages and more affordable housing and that means scaling back the current rate of immigration.
“That’s what we need to focus on today, being the best possible government with the strongest possible policies.”
BISHOP REJECTS LEADERSHIP RUMOURS
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop was in the spotlight this morning after voters signalled she would be almost as popular as Mr Turnbull to lead the Liberal Party.
Twenty-seven per cent of respondents in today’s Newspoll said they wanted Ms Bishop as Liberal leader.
She only narrowly missed out on pipping Mr Turnbull as most popular. He was backed by 28 per cent of voters as preferred Liberal leader.
Ms Bishop shut down any suggestions she might challenge for the leadership swiftly after the result was published, saying she was “absolutely” loyal to Mr Turnbull.
“I have been elected as the deputy leader of the Liberal Party and I have been since 2007, and clearly because my colleagues elected me as deputy, they have confidence in me
... in that role,” she told Channel Seven’s Sunrise program.
“I will continue to do that and Malcolm Turnbull will continue to lead the party with strong economic management and a focus on national security to keep Australians safe,” she said.
Mr Turnbull’s popularity was clearer among Coalition voters, with 46 per cent of voters backing him as Liberal leader and 22 per cent backing Ms Bishop.
Only 13 per cent of voters overall wanted Mr Abbott back as Liberal leader.
‘DISTRACTION, DISUNITY’ WILL COST US
Senior government minister Christopher Pyne warned rebel backbenchers — including Mr Abbott — that they would cost the Coalition the next federal election if they continued to speak out against government policies.
It comes after a ginger group of MPs calling themselves The Monash Forum last week called for the government to build a new coal-fired power station.
Mr Abbott and Barnaby Joyce were both members of the group.
“I think the public have factored in Tony Abbott as a political force in Australia,” Mr Pyne told ABC radio this morning.
“They know that he has strong views about certain things and he’s expressing those views. It’s a democracy — he’s entitled to do so.
“But the only thing that’s stopping us from winning the next election is distraction and disunity.
“If the government was completely united and we didn’t have the constant media speculation, Bill Shorten would not be 50-50 in the polls.”
RUDD HITS OUT
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd says both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten would already be gone if they were held to the same standard as he was as leader.
Mr Rudd was toppled in 2010 as Labor MPs revolted against his management style and the worry he was falling behind Tony Abbott.
“In 87 Newspolls I fell behind once. Based on that, coup leaders acted, saying we’d lose election,” Mr Rudd tweeted on Monday.
“Both (Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten) would be long gone if we applied that standard now.”
Mr Rudd highlighted in his Tweet that Mr Shorten was one of the MPs who acted against him.
Mr Shorten was asked if he could rebuild his relationship with Mr Rudd. “I’m not going to interpret someone’s emotions through a tweet. Mr Rudd did a very good job as prime minister of Australia,” he told reporters in Perth. “We’ve learned from our mistakes.”
VOTERS WARMING TO SHORTEN
In more negative news for Mr Turnbull, the leadership battle between him and Labor leader Bill Shorten as preferred PM narrowed in the latest Newspoll.
The margin held by Mr Turnbull closed to within two points with Mr Shorten receiving 36 per cent of the vote compared to his 38 per cent.
According to The Australian, there was a one point gain in the Coalition’s primary vote to 38 per cent which is now four points down on the 2016 election result.
Labor dropped back two primary vote points to 37 per cent, trimming what had been one of its strongest primary votes since 2015.
In terms of the Greens and One Nation, there was no shift for either party; the Greens stayed on 10 per cent, One Nation on seven per cent and other on eight per cent.
Voters’ appraisal of Mr Turnbull’s own performance has stayed unchanged from the previous poll of two weeks ago, but Mr Shorten experienced a two point drop in his satisfaction rating to 32 per cent — and a three point rise in dissatisfaction to now level Mr Turnbull on both fronts.
Despite the poor poll today, a raft of government MPs have insisted the Coalition could still win the next federal election.
Trotting out Howard-era poll results, Mr Pyne said John Howard managed a seven point turnaround from a 48-52 poll result after calling the 2004 election.
“I’m actually surprised that the polls are as good as they are,” he said.
“The government isn’t in massive trouble. The polls are about 50-50 — that’s not a bad position to be in.”
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the prime minister had the support of the party room despite the poor opinion polls.
“It’s not unusual for incumbent governments in between elections being behind in the polls, I mean we’re not actually that far behind, truth be told,” he told ABC radio.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham said it is possible to turn the polls around, citing the recent South Australian election.
“If you believed the polls, Nick Xenophon was going to be premier a few months ago,” he told ABC TV.
“You can turn these things around through discipline, through hard work, through focusing on the key messages.”
His colleague Angus Taylor, who is joining Tony Abbott on his annual Pollie Pedal through Victoria on Monday, called for party unity.
Mr Taylor said the scoreboard that matters isn’t Newspoll, it’s jobs growth, and the voters want to see the government is delivering
“What they don’t want is a Shorten government,” he told Sky News.
“People want us to succeed.”
Liberal senator Eric Abetz said the milestone was a false measure when Mr Turnbull used it, and it remains one now.
“Jumping at shadows at the Newspoll, or indeed 30 Newspolls is never going to be the basis for good, sound government,” he told ABC radio.
“The one issue is the poll on election day and whilst Newspolls do give us some indication, we have had in the past substantial recovery in the polls come election time, so my view is there is no such thing as an unwinnable election.”
- with AAP
Originally published as Newspoll: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull slumps to 30 straight Newspoll losses
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