Labor and Coalition neck-and-neck in worst Newspoll for government since the election

Support for the Albanese government has dropped again, with Newspoll putting the two-party vote at a perilous 50-50 split.

Support for the Albanese government has dropped since the last election, with Newspoll putting the Labor Party’s primary vote at just 31 per cent – a result which would plunge 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.

As the Albanese government heads into the final parliamentary sitting days of the year, the poll result is set to prompt Labor MPs to examine where it all went wrong.

“We have spent all year ringing that warning bell,’’ former Labor strategist and pollster Kos Samaras said on Sunday night.

“Perhaps the political bubble should talk about economics and people’s ability to feed their kids and stop yapping about every other issue that does not impact Australians.

“I am not holding my breath. Throw into this mix another two interest rate rises and this first term Labor government will be on fire.

“The arsonists are indeed from the left, obsessing about everything but the crisis in people’s homes.”

Anthony Albanese. Picture: Nicki Connolly/NCA NewsWire

Labor won the 2022 election with a historically low primary vote of just 32.6 per cent.

While the Newspoll result is only marginally lower, it is coming off a higher base since the election.

The result is significant, however, because it’s the first time the primary vote in Newspoll has fallen below the primary vote that was recorded when Labor won the election.

The Coalition’s primary vote under Peter Dutton has lifted a point to 38 per cent – its highest level of support since the election.

The result suggests Labor is bleeding votes to the Left, with strong support for the Greens and independents.

The Greens’ support increased to 13 per cent, while other minor parties including the Teal ­independents lifted two points to 12 per cent.

On a two-party preferred basis, the major parties are now neck and neck with a 50-50 result when preferences are distributed.

If an election were held last weekend, the result suggests Labor would likely be forced into minority government after its first term, just as Julia Gillard was after the 2010 election.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd was dumped as leader in his first term following concerns about his temperament among Labor colleagues, his failure to deliver on a planned carbon emissions reduction scheme and concerns about an increase in asylum seeker boat arrivals.

The Newspoll result follows a week of controversy over the High Court ruling on non-citizen detainees. The Albanese government is considering preventive detention orders.

“Look, obviously, the High Court made a decision that had overturned many, many decades of the way we dealt with detention in this country,’’ Labor frontbencher Amanda Rishworth told Sky News on Sunday.

“The Home Affairs Minister has said that she is exploring preventive detention options.

“We’ve said we will work through all of these, and we have offered, in a bipartisan way, for the opposition to work with us. That offer is out there to work with us.

“This was a way that governments dealt with detention. The High Court has overruled that. We need to now respond.”

The Prime Minister has suffered a further fall in his approval ratings, reaching the lowest level of support since the election

Mr Albanese’s dissatisfaction levels rose a point to 53 per cent, giving him a net approval rating of -13.

However, voters still prefer Mr Albanese, on 46 per cent, to Mr Dutton, on 35 per cent.