New poll reveals Victorians’ frustrations with Andrews Government
A shock new poll suggests angry voters are punishing the Labor Party for its failures in the second coronavirus wave, with numbers revealing the Andrews Government would likely lose an election if it was held this week.
Victoria
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Daniel Andrews’ government has suffered a significant swing against it in five key marginal seats polled this week.
The shock poll suggests angry voters are punishing the Labor Party for its failures in the second coronavirus wave — triggered by the botched hotel quarantine program and fuelled by contact tracing bungling.
The MediaReach poll of more than 3000 voters in the marginal Labor seats of Bayswater, Hawthorn, Mount Waverley, South Barwon and Monbulk — held by Deputy Premier James Merlino — revealed all would be lost if an election was held this week.
The polling, secretly done for the state Liberal Party leadership and obtained by the Herald Sun, shows an average swing away from Labor of a staggering 14.35 per cent across the five seats on a two party-preferred basis.
If the numbers were replicated in the 2022 election, Labor would suffer a wipe-out, losing 30 seats, including Mr Andrews’ Mulgrave electorate.
In an incredible four of the five seats — all except Monbulk — Liberal candidates would win on the primary vote alone, having polled more than 50 per cent in each.
The poll by MediaReach — which has done research for both the state and federal governments — is the first published since the Premier released his recovery road map on Sunday.
The ALP’s average primary vote across the marginal seats plummeted to 30.5 per cent.
And in a boost for Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien, he has come close to Mr Andrews as those voters’ preferred premier.
Mr O’Brien polled 37.5 per cent on average across the seats, compared to Mr Andrews’ 38.9 per cent, with the remaining 23.6 per cent of voters saying they were undecided.
The Liberals picked up 54.5 per cent of the two party-preferred vote in Monbulk, held by Mr Merlino.
In Hawthorn (held by John Kennedy) they picked up 68 per cent; in Bayswater (Jackson Taylor) it was 70.6 per cent; in Mount Waverley (Matt Fregon) the Liberals got 54.9; and in South Barwon (Darren Cheeseman) they won 57.9 per cent.
The poll was conducted on Tuesday night, just two days after the Premier announced the extension to the state’s stage four lockdown and revealed the road map for easing restrictions.
The Liberal Party refused to comment on the leaked polling last night.
A separate Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey released yesterday found 70 per cent of people approved of Mr Andrews’ handling of his job.
But the results of the MediaReach poll is expected to send shockwaves through the state Labor caucus.
Labor had huge wins across Melbourne’s east in the 2018 election, securing a string of blue-riband electorates to claim a whopping 55 lower house seats — 10 more than needed to form a majority government.
If the swings seen in the MediaReach poll were replicated across the state, Labor would be relegated to opposition.
Among those to lose their seats would be Mr Andrews (Mulgrave), Police Minister Lisa Neville (Bellarine), Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan (Bendigo East) and Child Protection Minister Luke Donnellan (Narre Warren North).
The government has been widely criticised for its response to the pandemic, which has led to the deaths of more than 700 Victorians. The second wave was largely sparked by leaks from the botched hotel quarantine program and fuelled by poor contact tracing.
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