Newspoll: Scott Morrison’s record approval rating defies the bad news

EXCLUSIVE | Scott Morrison has locked in a record high approval rating while boosting his authority as Prime Minister.

Scott Morrison has the highest prolonged polling numbers for a prime minister since the early days of Kevin Rudd’s first term in government. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison has locked in record high approval ratings while boosting his authority as Prime Minister in the face of an aggressive campaign by Labor to discredit his handling of the coronavirus crisis and economic recovery.

An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows the Coalition also preserving its two-party-preferred lead over Labor with little shift in voting intention despite the government’s admission that Australia had plunged into ­recession.

The latest poll, coming ahead of a return to parliament this week for the first time since April, shows popular support for the Coalition dropping a point to 42 per cent and in line with the election result that delivered it victory. Labor’s primary vote also dropped a point to 34 per cent, delivering the Coalition an unchanged lead of 51-49 based on preferences.

The results reflect a three-week contest that saw the government revealing a $60bn accounting error in its JobKeeper program, a $721m capitulation on the “robo-debt” controversy and the release of the national accounts last week forecasting the deepest economic contraction for the June quarter since the Great Depression.

PDF of Newspoll results

But Mr Morrison’s approval rating appears to have withstood the grim economic news, with his satisfaction level remaining unchanged at a record high of 66 per cent and his disapproval level falling a point to 29 per cent.

These are the highest prolonged numbers for a prime minister since the early days of Kevin Rudd’s first term in government.

Mr Morrison also strengthened his position as the preferred prime minister over Labor rival Anthony Albanese, retaining 56 per cent support against 26 per cent for Mr Albanese who dropped three points.

The numbers, which show a three-point rise to 18 per cent of voters who claim to be uncommitted, suggest some people who had previously supported Mr Albanese may be having second thoughts.

The Labor leader’s approval rating fell three points to 41 per cent against a one-point lift in dissatisfaction to 38 per cent, keeping him just in net positive territory.

The overall Newspoll results see the political landscape largely unchanged since the last poll three weeks ago, with popular support for both parties in line with that recorded at last year’s election.

The largest shift in support was for the Greens, who rose two points to a primary vote of 12 per cent. Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party lifted a point to 4 per cent. Primary support of other minor parties and independents fell a point to 8 per cent, almost four points below the election result.

The government’s numbers are likely to have been helped by the announcement last week of a fourth stimulus package to reboot the housing and construction sector, with $25,000 grants for new homes and large-scale renovations. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also announced major reforms to foreign investment laws to include a national security test for overseas bids for Australia’s critical assets and nationally sensitive businesses.

The polling period also included the deterioration of relations between Beijing and Canberra over what have been trade retaliations against Australia for its pursuit of a global inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in Wuhan.

The Newspoll was conducted between June 3 and June 6, based on 1512 online interviews of voters across mainland capital cities and the regions, with a 2.5 per cent margin of error.