Labor and Coalition feel the pain as voters demand cost-of-living solutions

Peter Dutton can claim victory in the Fadden by-election - won by Cameron Caldwell - but can the Dutton formula work outside Queensland? Picture: Richard Gosling

The honeymoon is officially over. Voters are souring on the ­Albanese government as cost-of-living concerns go unanswered.

Having milked the blame game for the past year, Labor now faces demands from voters that it has answers to their concerns.

Nevertheless, the electorate remains completely unconvinced about the alternative. And while Peter Dutton can claim victory in the Fadden by-election, the Dutton formula works for Queensland but not for the rest of the country. And the question remains as to whether it can.

Considering the lack of attention to people’s primary concern over the past three weeks, its hardly surprising the latest Newspoll delivered an electoral pox on both houses.

The Greens are up, One Nation is up, the vote for independents is up.

Both the major parties are down, Labor more so and at its lowest point since the election.

The cost-of-living issues that played out in Fadden are evident nationwide. Inflation, rental costs and mortgage stress are not getting any easier, yet there are no solutions from Canberra on the horizon.

And while other issues have distracted both major parties as they engage in peripheral political debates in Canberra, the more disaffected voters are going to become.

Anthony Albanese’s approval ratings hit a low point in June with the government primarily engaged in explanations of the voice to parliament.

It has been on a downward trajectory since the start of the year.

For the first time, there are early indications that the cost-of-living crisis is starting to eat into Labor’s primary vote as well. The lag effect is potentially playing out.

The latest Newspoll survey shows a two-point fall to 36 per cent.

Not that this should sound alarm bells yet for Labor.

It was always going to come down, given that the 38 per cent primary vote average it has enjoyed for the past 14 months has been a historical high.

And if Labor remains ahead of the Coalition on primary vote at an election, the result is a massacre because of Greens preferences.

Yet there would be some degree of concern in Labor HQ about the trend and where it goes from here.

Equally, there will be frustration creeping into the Coalition side that if it can’t capitalise electorally on a cost-of-living crisis, then what hope is there for any ­ revival.

While the Opposition Leader and the Coalition may have taken a hit from the Robodebt scandal, the government has missed the broader point.

The essential takeout from the latest Newspoll is that for the first time since the election, there is some cause for concern for Labor.

It appears distracted from the major issues and this is being reflected in the polls.

At the same time, there is a depth of negativity towards both major parties, which was evident at the last election.

Voters are looking to the government for solutions from the economic pain but remain demonstrably unimpressed with what the Coalition has to offer as an alternative.