Anthony Albanese slammed in focus groups of swinging voter in Queensland and South Australia
Swinging voters are ripping into Anthony Albanese for failing to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, labelling him “weak” and “ineffective”.
Swinging voters have accused Anthony Albanese and the Labor government of failing to tackle the cost of living crisis, with some labelling the PM “weak” and “ineffective”.
Focus groups by Redbridge, published in the Sunday Telegraph, gathered soft voters in the Queensland electorates of Brisbane, Griffith and Ryan, and the South Australian seats of Sturt and Boothby.
Cost of living pressure was identified as the biggest concern for voters.
“He hasn’t really addressed cost-of-living and I get there’s global factors at play but I don’t think he’s done much concrete action on it,” said one annoyed voter.
Another accused him of being “missing in action” and “running off overseas again”.
“The belt is getting tighter and tighter but there’s no action,” a third said.
The criticism went on to get highly personal.
One voter described Mr Albanese as “weak” and “not strong”.
The most biting verdict came from a Queensland voter who opined: “He’s not a leader, he’s a follower. He’s a weak beta male”
Director of Redbridge Tony Barry told news.com.au the “problem for Labor is that soft voters’ evaluations of Anthony Albanese are underpinned by pervading concerns that he lacks strength and emerging hesitations about his vision and values”.
“Strong leadership is a key attribute in times of economic or national security crisis because voters need to have confidence that a Prime Minister has the courage to make tough decisions under pressure,” he said.
”Not being Scott Morrison will only get Albanese so far,” he said.
Mr Barry urged Mr Albanese to abandon his small target strategy in favour of bigger economics reforms.
Support for the Albanese government has plunged since the last election, with Newspoll putting the Labor Party’s primary vote at just 31 per cent – a result which would see it into minority government if an election were held now.
The four-point fall in the primary vote in just three weeks is the biggest single drop since the 2022 election.
It follows the Prime Minister’s failure to deliver the Voice in a referendum, rising interest rates and controversy over the release of immigration detainees with criminal convictions.
The Weekend Australian reported the Labor seats considered most at risk at the next election were Paterson, Gilmore, Richmond, Bennelong, Reid and Robertson in NSW, Swan, Pearce, Tangney and Hasluck in WA, Boothby in South Australia, Chisholm, Higgins, Aston and McEwen in Victoria and Lyons in Tasmania. Electoral redistributions in NSW, Victoria and WA are also being watched closely.
This month Mr Albanese rebuffed assertions he should “spend more time in the country” if he wanted to prevent leading a one-term government.
Mr Albanese defended his recent overseas travels, maintaining that none of those trips were for holidays and at all times he was “representing Australia”.
In the last two months, he has visited the US twice, China, and the Cook Islands.
The Coalition has been supportive in principle for much of Mr Albanese’s recent travel but last month called on him not to go to APEC amid rising concerns about community safety.
Speaking to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell, Mr Albanese said he spent “every day I can in the country”.
“I haven’t been on overseas holidays,” he said.
To that, Mitchell put to him that he was needed at home as well.
“Part of the job is to represent Australia. You know why? Because one in four of our jobs depends upon our trade,” he said.
“Now fixing some of the trading relationships that we have, either with the United States deals we’ve done on critical minerals in clean energy, the removal of some of the impediments to trade with China, which is making a difference for our barley farmers and our wine growers and all of those industries, benefits Australia.”
-with Samantha Maiden, Ellen Ransley
Push to give every worker 12 extra leave days
All Australian workers could get an extra 12 days of leave a year for severe period pain, hormone therapy and vasectomies, under a new push by a powerful union.
‘Problems’: Grim detail in bombshell report
The man tasked with leading a landmark probe into a devastating issue among Australia’s military says there are “problems in the barracks”.
Bombshell detail in ‘worst pedo’ case
The actions of a man dubbed “Australia’s worst pedophile” had been on the police radar before - but it would be years until police had enough evidence to arrest and charge him.