Newspoll: More voters turning towards the fringes

Support for ‘others’ has risen to a post-election high 13 per cent as the two-party-preferred vote remains unchanged.

Scott Morrison’s approval ratings showed signs of improvement, with a two-point rise to 48 per cent among those satisfied with his performance as Prime Minister. Picture: AFP

Popular support for fringe parties and independents has reached its highest level in at least four years as the Coalition struggles to repair its primary vote with the two most populous states still in lockdown.

But approval for Scott Morrison has also lifted following a week of summits in the US and in spite of the diplomatic fallout with France over the nuclear submarine deal.

An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows support for “others”, excluding the Greens or One Nation, has risen to a post-election high 13 per cent.

The two-party-preferred vote, however remained unchanged at 53-47 per cent in Labor’s favour.

The increased support for the fringe vote marks a five-point rise since August in a category that also includes Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party. The steady rise in support in this grouping, now at the highest level recorded since 2017, shows a deepening split in the conservative vote.

The latest poll has the Coalition remaining on a primary vote of 37 per cent for the second survey in a row while Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has fallen a point to an equal post-election low of 2 per cent.

Labor has dropped back a point to 37 per cent, with the Greens lifting a point to 11 per cent.

Labor’s primary vote has now dropped three points in the past five weeks from a high of 40 per cent in late August.

Satisfaction with Anthony Albanese’s performance remained at 37 per cent. Picture: Gaye Gerard

While the total vote of 26 per cent for all other parties remains close to the 25.3 per cent recorded at the 2019 election, the 13 per cent support for independents and other fringe parties is now level with that recorded at the 2016 ­double-dissolution election.

It is almost double the level of support among this grouping in April last year at the height of the first wave of the pandemic, when support was at 6 per cent.

The fracturing of the Coalition primary vote, which reached a peak of 44 per cent this time last year, coincides with the latest Victorian and NSW lockdowns.

Despite this, the Prime Minister’s approval ratings showed signs of improvement with a two-point rise to 48 per cent among those satisfied with his performance as leader.

There was also a one-point fall in those claiming to be dissatisfied – down to 49 per cent – leaving Mr Morrison with a net approval ­rating of minus one.

While a small improvement on the last survey two weeks ago, it still reflects a 21-point fall from May when Mr Morrison’s approval ratings were at 58 per cent and his disapproval was at 38 per cent.

Satisfaction with Anthony Albanese’s performance remained unchanged from the last survey with an approval rating of 37 per cent. The Labor leader’s net ­approval ratings were minus 10 – a one point improvement.

In the head-to-head contest, the margin remained almost unchanged, with a one-point decline in support for Mr Albanese at 34 per cent and Mr Morrison remaining steady at 47 per cent.

The movements on the primary party votes and approval ratings for Mr Albanese and Mr Morrison were within the polling margin of error.

The survey of 1545 voters, was conducted between last Wednesday and Saturday.