Newspoll: Support for PM soars, but Coalition flatlines

EXCLUSIVE | Scott Morrison fortifies leadership but two main parties are deadlocked.

Scott Morrison has the highest approval rating for a prime minister since the end of 2008, when Kevin Rudd’s popularity peaked at 70 per cent. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison has fortified his leadership in a time of crisis, with his personal approval rating soaring as coronavirus infection rates remain low, prompting optimism the nation is winning the battle to contain it.

An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows support for the Prime Minister rising to its highest level for a leader since 2008, and second only to Kevin Rudd since Newspoll began testing in the mid-1980s.

However, the strong personal support for Mr Morrison has failed to improve the Coalition’s political fortunes. The contest between the Coalition and Labor is tightening, bringing the parties back to a deadlock of 50-50 on a two-party-preferred basis.

Support for the Coalition has fallen back a point to 41 per cent since the last poll, while Labor improved its primary vote two points to 36 per cent — a two-point turnaround after preferences.

The boost for the opposition party — having trailed 51-49 two-party preferred three weeks ago — came as the Greens and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation lost ground.

See the full Newspoll results here

But Mr Morrison’s personal popularity has spiked further since he escalated his push for state and territory governments to reopen schools for term two, and with the JobKeeper payments due to start rolling out next week.

The opinion poll covers a week in which Mr Morrison ramped up pressure over the teachers’ union and state premiers who have resisted advice from Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy that schools should be reopened in ­accordance with medical advice that it is safe to do so.

The government also faced the collapse of Virgin Australia after standing firm on its refusal to meet a request for a $1.4bn bailout, which had the strong backing of Labor leader Anthony Albanese.

The Prime Minister’s approval rating rose a further seven points to 68 per cent, marking an unprecedented 27-point increase since the first week of March.

This is the highest approval rating for a prime minister since the end of 2008, when Kevin Rudd’s popularity peaked at 70 per cent.

Those dissatisfied with Mr Morrison’s performance also ­continued to fall — down seven points to 28 per cent. The Prime Minister’s net approval rating is now plus 40. Mr Morrison also stretched his lead over the Labor leader as the preferred prime minister, up three points to 56 per cent as Mr Albanese fell to 28 per cent.

This continues the significant turnaround for Mr Morrison, who only two months ago trailed his rival as the preferred prime minister 40-41 in the wake of criticism over his handling of the bushfires.

Mr Albanese’s approval ratings remained unchanged at 45 per cent, while those dissatisfied with his performance fell two points to 36. These numbers, while softer than Mr Morrison’s, with 21 per cent uncommitted, still have the Opposition Leader in net positive territory.

One Nation fell a point to 4 per cent, only slightly above levels ­recorded at the election. The Greens fell a point to 12 per cent, which leaves the left-wing minor party still ahead of where it was at the election. Other minor parties lifted a point to 7 per cent.

The Newspoll was conducted between April 22 and April 25 and surveyed 1519 people online.

The Prime Minister’s popularity levels have seen a remarkable turnaround since February, when he was faced with lingering anger over the bushfire crisis and a leadership spill in the Nationals. after the sacking of sports minister Bridget McKenzie.