Newspoll: Daniel Andrews caught in voters’ crossfire over COVID-19

Voters have turned against Daniel Andrews, with a shattering of the bipartisan support at a ­federal level for the ­embattled ­Premier.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

Voters have turned against Daniel Andrews, with a shattering of the bipartisan support at a ­federal level for the now-­embattled ­Victorian Premier, who is ­struggling to contain the state’s second-wave outbreak of COVID-19.

An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows the unprecedented universal support for state Labor and Coalition premiers throughout the crisis has turned into a partisan elect­oral assault on Mr Andrews’s ­performance.

In all other states, premiers have the approval of most Labor and Coalition voters.

In Victoria, that has turned sharply among Coalition voters, with the first net negative rating.

There was also a growing divide of political opinion on the impacts of the pandemic, with Coalition voters more worried about the economy than Labor voters but more confident in the health system to cope.

 

A separate survey of voters across NSW and Victoria has shown a sharp fall in approval ratings for Mr Andrews, with a 10-point drop to 57 per cent since the second outbreak was detected three weeks ago, and an 18-point fall since April.

The fall was further revealed when voters were asked to judge his handling of the coronavirus crisis, with an 11-point drop to 61 per cent in those claiming to be satisfied with his management.

Gladys Berejiklian was spared the same wrath amid fears of a potential second-wave infection in NSW but still suffered a four-point drop in her approval ratings as Premier to 64 per cent.

Confidence in her ability to manage the crisis, however, dropped sharply from 79 per cent less than a month ago to 68 per cent in the latest Newspoll.

Approval ratings for Scott Morrison in both Victoria and NSW have risen, yet he also suffered a fall in the level of satisfaction at his handling of the crisis in those two states.

Since the pandemic began in February, all state leaders and the Prime Minister had enjoyed the strong backing of the electorate that crossed party lines.

 

Based on federal voting intentions, Coalition voters in Labor states were more satisfied than not with Labor premiers while Labor voters in Liberal states were similarly disposed to the Liberal premiers.

The level of satisfaction with Mr Morrison’s performance was shared by most Labor voters.

The latest polls show that the electoral bipartisanship has continued across all jurisdictions but for Victoria and Mr Andrews.

Concerns about the economy have risen three points since May.

Now 81 per cent of voters are anxious about the economic impact of the virus — a result still lower than at the height of the outbreak in mid-April.

 

Confidence in the health system has also fallen from 69 per cent to 59 per cent. When split across party lines, 71 per cent of Coalition voters claim to still trust the heath system compared with 54 per cent of Labor voters.

Voters marked down both state and federal government handling of the economy with a three-point drop to 57 per cent in the number of people satisfied with their performances.

Coalition voters had significantly more confidence, with 71 per cent satisfied compared with 50 per cent of Labor voters.

Fears about catching the virus rose seven points to 58 per cent but still remained lower than the peak of April, when it reached 68 per cent.