Slide puts Albanese into negative territory

Anthony Albanese’s approval rating heads into negative territory for the first time since becoming leader.

Anthony Albanese has also slipped further behind Mr Morrison in the head-to-head contest. Picture: AAP

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has suffered a collapse in voter support, with his approval rating heading into negative territory for the first time since becoming leader three months ago.

It comes as popular support for both the Coalition and Labor strengthened, with the primary vote for the major parties higher than that recorded at the May 18 election.

An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows Mr Albanese suffering a six-point slide in popularity amid a divisive debate over the case of a Sri Lankan asylum-seeker family facing deportation. The Coalition’s primary vote rose a point on the last poll to 43 per cent and now sits almost two clear points ahead of the 41.4 per cent that secured it victory at the May 18 election. Labor has also made gains, rising a point to 35 per cent, despite the loss of support for its leader, with the government forced to defend poor economic figures released last week.

The two-party-preferred vote remains unchanged at 51-49 in favour of the Coalition, which a month ago peaked at 53-47 after passing its income tax cuts.

In a possible sign that the political contest has polarised since the election, support for independents and minor parties other than the Greens and One Nation has fallen away, dropping from 9 per cent in the Newspoll conducted three weeks ago to 5 per cent in the latest survey.

The case of the Sri Lankan family, which the courts have found not to be legitimate refugees, has dominated the political contest for the past two weeks as Scott Morrison has held firm on his refusal to make an exception for them and stay their deportation.

Approval for Mr Morrison rose a point to 49 per cent, while those dissatisfied with his leadership fell three points to 39 per cent, resulting in a net satisfaction level of plus-10 per cent. Mr Albanese’s ­approval rating dropped six points to 35 per cent. Those dissatisfied with his performance jumped six points to 40 per cent, leaving him with a net negative approval rating of minus 5.

The fall in popularity marks a 12-point turnaround for the Labor leader on the last poll after beginning his leadership in positive territory of plus three points in July and rising to plus seven points in August.

Mr Albanese has also slipped further behind Mr Morrison in the head-to-head contest, now trailing by a 20-point margin as the preferred prime minister.

This is the largest margin ­enjoyed by a prime minister over an opposition leader since Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten in April 2016 and comes as NSW Labor has been rocked by a corruption scandal. The sharp drop in support for Mr Albanese comes as the Opposition Leader braces for a showdown with the government this week as it moves to force through legislation on a range of social ­issues that have divided the Labor Party in the past.

Support for One Nation continued to rise since the election, lifting a point to 5 per cent following a similar trend in the previous poll. The Greens, which have also been campaigning strongly on behalf of the Tamil asylum-seekers, lifted a point to 12 per cent.

The Newspoll, the third to be conducted since the election, surveyed 1661 voters across city and country areas over the period September 5 to September 7. It involved 956 online surveys and 705 robo interviews with a margin of error plus or minus of 2.4 per cent.