Newspoll: Albanese draws level with Morrison as preferred PM for the first time in nearly two years

Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison are neck-and-neck as preferred prime minister for the first time in more than two years.

Anthony Albanese leads Scott Morrison as preferred prime minister for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic in February 2020. Picture: Gary Ramage

Anthony Albanese has drawn level with Scott Morrison as ­preferred prime minister for the first time in more than two years as the Coalition struggles to claw back electoral territory from Labor.

With the federal election due to be called soon after the budget is handed down in a fortnight’s time, an exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows Labor maintaining its six-point lead over the Coalition.

The latest survey, covering a period dominated by the NSW and Queensland flood ­disaster, Russia’s war on Ukraine and major defence ­announcements by the government, shows no shift in the underlying support for both major parties since the last poll was conducted two weeks ago.

The Coalition remains on a primary vote of 35 per cent. Labor is also unchanged at 41 per cent.

On a two-party-preferred split, based on preference flows from the last election, Labor continues to lead the Coalition 55 to 45 – a margin that it has maintained for the past three surveys.

The only movement in voting intention has been among the minor parties, with the Greens falling back a point to 8 per cent. The party is down almost 2.5 points on its 2019 election ­result. Pauline Hanson’s One ­Nation remains on 3 per cent, ­consistent with the level of support at the last election, while Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, which is already outspending the major parties on election advertising, fell a point to 3 per cent.

Other minor parties, including independents, rose two points to 10 per cent, which marks an ­almost two point gain on the May 2019 result.

The overall level of backing for minor-party candidates and independents at 24 per cent is slightly below the 25.3 per cent recorded at the 2019 election results.

While there has been minimal shift in the overall approval ­ratings for either the Prime ­Minister or Opposition Leader, with Mr Morrison trailing his rival by 16 points, he is now tied with Mr Albanese on the question of who voters think would make the better prime minister.

Scott Morrison’s approval rating dropped two points to 41 per cent, with his disapproval rating of 55 per cent unchanged, resulting in a net negative score of minus 14. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

While marking only a two-point improvement for Mr Albanese, it is the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic in February 2020 that Mr Morrison hasn’t led his rival.

The Prime Minister has faced criticism over the government’s response to the flood ­disaster in northern NSW, with the commonwealth being ­accused of moving too slowly to make a national-emergency ­declaration.

He spent several days early last week visiting flood-affected communities in northern NSW while Mr Albanese also travelled to the region later in the week.

While Mr Albanese has sought to reposition Labor on the economy and national security with two pre-election speeches, Mr Morrison has made almost $50bn in defence announcements over the past week.

Mr Morrison’s approval rating dropped two points to 41 per cent, with his disapproval rating of 55 per cent unchanged, resulting in a net negative score of minus 14.

Satisfaction with Mr Albanese’s performance remained at 44 per cent with a one-point fall – to 42 per cent – in those unsatisfied, producing a net positive score for the opposition leader of plus two.

Almost one in seven voters, however, are yet to make up their minds about Mr Albanese.

The Newspoll was conducted between March 9 and March 12 and surveyed 1520 voters ­nationally.