Newspoll: Now Scott Morrison must settle disquiet among quiet Australians

An overwhelming majority believe China poses a significant threat to our national security interests. This is the key finding that underwrites Scott Morrison’s entire defence strategy.

Having solved the technical and political questions over the submarine program, Scott Morrison’s central task has been convincing Australians of the critical need. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison has succeeded in making the case for the AUKUS defence pact and secured domestic support for a nuclear submarine program.

Almost 60 per cent of voters approve of the deal and a significant majority believes the country will be more secure for it.

This level of support might have been unlikely even five years ago when a justification, let alone a pathway, was less clear.

The central task for the Prime Minister, having solved the technical and political questions, has been convincing Australians of a critical need.

This he appears to have also done.

Anthony Albanese. Picture: Jeremy Piper

There is now an overwhelming majority of Australians who believe that China poses a significant threat to the country’s national security interests.

This is the key finding that underwrites Morrison’s entire defence strategy.

The Newspoll findings also shows Anthony Albanese made the right call in backing it, irrespective of criticism from the Labor Party’s margins.

While it would have been expected that a majority of Coalition voters would have supported it, what was less expected was a clear majority of Labor voters approving of it as well.

Morrison would hope that all this eventually pays an electoral dividend, having cemented his leadership credentials around national security and defence.

But nuclear submarines aren’t going to get people out of lockdown and while this remains the case, the general polls are going to be unfavourable for the federal government.

There are two notable features of the past several polls other than the Coalition’s obvious troubles.

Labor’s primary vote has also come off three points over the past five weeks, from a high of 40 per cent to 37 per cent this week.

The lift in support for “others” – a morass of minor parties and independents other than the Greens and One Nation – is also significant.

Behind this is the re-emergence of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, which is fracturing the conservative vote further and likely will now be outpolling Pauline Hanson as it offers sanctuary for an angry element of the Coalition base.

This continues to suggest that Morrison’s problems aren’t stemming from inner-city Liberal seats but disquiet among the quiet Australians in the outer suburbs and regions.