Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews riding high on all election issues

Daniel Andrews is dominating Matthew Guy on the top four state election issues, with 52 per cent of Victorians believing his government is doing a good job.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Daniel Andrews is dominating Matthew Guy on the top four state election issues – cost of living, healthcare services, housing and climate change – with 52 per cent of Victorians believing his government is doing a good job.

New polling obtained by The Australian, which will be released at a Tourism and Transport Forum Victoria leadership summit on Friday, shows almost 90 per cent of voters consider Mr Guy’s opinions as unimportant.

SEC Newgate Research monthly tracking polling, conducted between August 31 and September 5, found 57 per cent of Victorians were more optimistic about the direction of the state.

The research, which polled more than 600 Victorians out of 1502 voters across Australia, shows Mr Andrews is on track to win his third election on November 26 despite criticism of his government’s handling of the pandemic, internal scandals and an exodus of senior ministers.

Addressing cost-of-living pressures, healthcare investment and employment are top priorities for Victorians, with regional voters also wanting better aged-care services, more affordable rental housing and greater local manufacturing capacity.

Mr Guy, who returned as ­Opposition Leader last year ­despite leading the Coalition to a disastrous 2018 election defeat, is struggling with voter cut-through. While Covid-19 has plum­meted as an election issue, down from 41 per cent in April to 27 per cent this month, almost one in two Victorians trust Mr Andrews to lead them through pandemic challenges compared with 16 per cent for Mr Guy.

SEC Newgate partner Feyi Akindoyeni said “regional voter priorities favour Labor”.

“It seems that the (Victorian) upper house is where the battle will happen in November and they will be encouraged by these findings,” Ms Akindoyeni said.

While 57 per cent expressed positivity that Victoria was ­headed in the right direction – the highest level across all jurisdictions – confidence in NSW has plunged.

Negative sentiment in NSW ahead of next year’s March election continues to grow, with 53 per cent of voters believing the state is not headed in the right ­direction. NSW is also the worst-­performing state on quality of life measurements.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, facing a tough fight against Labor leader Chris Minns, ­received the worst ­assessment of his government’s performance with only 35 per cent rating the ­Coalition as doing a “good to ­excellent job”.

SEC Newgate partner David Stolper said the Victorian results “bode well” for Mr Andrews.

“Seventy-eight per cent of Victorians rate the quality of life in their local area as good or better and this is higher than all other states. And 52 per cent rate the state government’s performance as ‘good or better’, up from 46 per cent last month,” he said.