Newspoll reveals Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s approval rating slumping four points to 42 per cent

Anthony Albanese’s political capital is now in deficit with the polls tightening to their closest point since the 2022 election.

Anthony Albanese’s approval ratings have fallen sharply in the wake of the referendum defeat and the decline in living standards as the political contest between Labor and the Coalition narrows to the closest margin since the 2022 election.

An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows the gap between the prime minister and Liberal leader Peter Dutton has also tightened significantly, with only 10 points now separating the two leaders.

The first major poll since the defeat of the Indigenous voice referendum on October 14 shows the Coalition now leading Labor on the primary vote, 37 per cent to 35 per cent.

This marks a two-point gain for the Liberal/Nationals parties in the past three weeks and a one-point fall for the government.

The two-party preferred contest between the major parties is now at its closest point since the election with Labor’s lead cut from 54/46 to 52/48 per cent.

Amid rising global tensions, the fallout of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and enduring cost-of-living concerns, with fears of another interest rate hike on Tuesday, Mr Albanese has suffered his worst approval rating since his time as opposition leader.

The Newspoll is the first to gauge the political contest since Mr Albanese took responsibility for the loss of the Voice referendum.

Mr Albanese has fallen below 50 per cent for the first time in the head-to-head contest over who voters believe would make a better prime minister.

Suffering a five-point fall on this measure to 46 per cent, he now leads Mr Dutton by just 10 points. In July, Mr Albanese enjoyed a 25-point margin over his rival.

The political debate following the referendum has been dominated by cost-of-living concerns and accusations that the government had mismanaged community divisions over the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.

Mr Albanese, who travelled to China at the weekend following an official visit to Washington, has also spent a significant part of the past three weeks out of Australia.

The Newspoll was conducted between October 30 and November 3 and surveyed 1220 voters throughout Australia by online interviews.

It shows Mr Albanese suffering a four-point decline in approval of his performance to 42 per cent.

This is the lowest level for the prime minister since the election. His dissatisfaction rating rose six points to 52 per cent giving him a net negative satisfaction rating of minus 10.

This is the worst result for Mr Albanese since he was opposition leader.

Voters are now only marginally less impressed with Mr Dutton’s performance as opposition leader with a two-point rise in satisfaction to 37 per cent. However, his dissatisfaction rating of 50 per cent is now lower than Mr Albanese for the first time. His net approval rating of minus 13 is now only three points lower than the prime minister.

Significantly, more people are still also undecided about Mr Dutton – 13 per cent – compared to 6 per cent for Mr Albanese.

The primary vote split between Labor and the Coalition is the equal highest lead for the conservative parties since the election. The Coalition led 37 per cent to 35 per cent in August this year, and 36 per cent to 34 per cent in early October, before Labor reversed the decline to have a one-point lead in the last Newspoll.

The Greens vote remains unchanged at 12 per cent, as does support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party on 6 per cent. Support for other minor parties and independents, including Teal independents, fell a point to 10 per cent. This is more than four points down on the election result.

Labor’s primary vote, however, still remains above the 32.6 per cent it recorded at the May 2022 election and which delivered it victory. The Coalition’s primary vote is also ahead of its election result of 35.7 per cent, which was its worst result on record.

On a two-party preferred split of 52/48 per cent, Labor would be on track to repeat its 2022 election victory with no net loss or gain of seats.

While Mr Albanese’s approval ratings are considered low, they are not nearly as low as the worst results recorded by Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott who both recorded net negative numbers in the mid 40s during their terms as prime ministers.