’Weak’: Voters’ brutal verdict on Albo

Australian voters have declared Anthony Albanese “weak”, according to Newspoll.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pictured at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman.

Australian voters have declared Anthony Albanese the weakest prime minister in decades according to Newspoll but the election contest is tighter than ever with both the major parties now neck and neck.

The election race is now 50/50 according to Newspoll, a minor improvement for Labor from the 51/49 result previously favouring Peter Dutton since October.

But in a brutal verdict, Mr Albanese’s rating as a strong and decisive leader has fallen five points to 44 per cent compared to Mr Dutton on an unchanged 60 per cent.

In the poll, Mr Albanese recorded the lowest score for a prime minister on strength and decisiveness since Newspoll first began the series in 2008 after the election of Kevin Rudd.

Mr Albanese was regarded as less likeable, less trusted, less in touch with voters and weaker and less decisive than the first half of the year.

One a more positive note, he was regarded however as more caring and less arrogant than the Liberal leader Peter Dutton.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pictured at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman.

Mr Albanese is also still regarded as the better prime minister by 45 per cent of respondents while Mr Dutton’s standing on this measure fell three points to 38 per cent, with 17 per cent uncommitted.

However, one in three voters say they will vote Labor with Labor’s primary vote of 33 per cent unchanged.

As such, Labor is relying on preferences from the Greens and independents to claw its way to a 50:50 two-party preferred vote.

The Greens remained on 11 per cent.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman.

On Sunday, Mr Albanese declared a Melbourne synagogue firebombing was an act of terrorism after two days of pressure to do so.

“My personal opinion is yes (it is terrorism), but there is a technical process,” the Prime Minister said from Perth.

“Tomorrow, the Victorian police and the Australian Federal Police will be having a meeting.

“There is a technical process that is agreed in the protocols for designating an event as a terrorist act. That meeting is taking place tomorrow.

“But if you want my personal view quite clearly, terrorism is something that is aimed at creating fear in the community and the atrocities that occurred at the synagogue in Melbourne clearly were designed to create fear in the community.

“And therefore, from my personal perspective, (the act) certainly fulfil(s) that definition of terrorism.”

His comments come the day after former Liberal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg demanded the Prime Minister call the attack an act of terror.

“This is an act of terrorism, pure and simple, and I think the Prime Minister’s deliberate decision to seek political advantage over the course of last 12 months on this issue and play to a domestic audience of Green voters, I think, has been deplorable and one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in public life,” Mr Dutton said.