Believability poll: Faith in Anthony Albanese, but who is he?

Anthony Albanese is more believable than Scott Morrison, but more than half of voters say they still know little about him, according to a new poll.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese, right, with WA Premier Mark McGowan in Perth on Wednesday. Picture: Getty Images

Labor leader Anthony Albanese is more believable than Scott Morrison, but more than half of voters say they still know little about him, according to a new election poll on the believability of politicians.

Ogilvy PR’s Believability Index 2022, which surveyed 1000 voters, found Mr Albanese had a believability rating of 48, two points higher than three years ago, while the Prime Minister saw his believability fall by two points to 41.

The poll, to be released on Thursday, comes on the eve of the election campaign at a time when the Coalition is trailing Labor and when Mr Morrison is fending off attacks on his character.

 

More than one in three voters say Mr Morrison is out of touch and has values different to theirs. They say he lacks authenticity, commitment, integrity and ­purpose.

The poll showed that Mr Morrison was less popular with ­regional voters and women while Mr Albanese had identity issues with younger Australians.

Among women, 34 per cent ­expressed strongly negative sentiment about Mr Morrison, compared with just 16 per cent for the Opposition Leader.

But the poll found that many Australians were still unaware of the low-profile Labor leader, with 54 per cent of voters saying they knew little about him while 15 per cent admitted they had never heard of him.

By contrast, 58 per cent of voters said they knew a lot about the Prime Minister.

Dislike of Mr Albanese was less pronounced, with 34 per cent expressing a “strong negative sentiment” about the Prime Minister compared with 19 per cent for the Labor leader.

Voters said the most important factor in determining a leader’s believability was a sense of shared values (23 per cent) followed by relevance (19 per cent) and factual correctness (18 per cent).

Despite his fall in believability, Mr Morrison was still ahead of Mr Albanese – 20 per cent to 16 per cent – as preferred prime minister.

Among state premiers, the poll found West Australian Premier Mark McGowan the most believable (48) with Victoria’s Daniel Andrews and Queensland’s ­Annastacia Palaszczuk just a point behind.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet was the least believable of the four premiers included in the survey.

Internationally, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was the most believable leader on 66 despite an 11-point fall from three years ago, while US President Joe Biden scored 46 ahead of Britain’s Boris Johnson (40) and former president Donald Trump, who came last on 28.

Australian politicians to perform poorly on believability ­included Pauline Hanson (39), Barnaby Joyce (35) and Clive Palmer (29).

“We’re still living in a ‘post-truth’ period of deep mistrust as Australians prepare to head back to the polling booths,” said ­Miriam Wells, Ogilvy PR’s head of strategy and creative.

The poll found cost of living was the biggest concern of voters, followed by housing affordability and rebuilding the economy. It found that 89 per cent of voters said cost of living – rising inflation and low wage growth – was their greatest worry ahead of the ­election.

These concerns were highest among those aged over 45 years, while housing affordability was the biggest issue for 82 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 years.