Voters appear comfortable with Albanese government

After almost a year in office, the Albanese government remains not only dominant but showing no sign of losing its ascendancy.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

After almost a year in office, the Albanese government remains not only dominant but showing no sign of losing its ascendancy.

The two-party preferred lead of 56-44 for Labor represents a 3.9 per cent swing toward the government since the election.

There are 16 Liberal and Nat­ionals seats that fall within this margin.

In other words, if an election were to be held today and such a swing was mirrored, Labor could end up with more than 90 seats in parliament.

Voters appear to be relaxed and comfortable with the Albanese government. This is a dangerous trend for the Coalition and Peter Dutton as leader.

And it will only reinforce further the concerns within the Liberal Party that have developed over the past month following the Aston by-election defeat. The dial is simply not shifting for the Opposition Leader. If anything, it is going backwards.

Yet the latest Newspoll contains an early warning sign for both Dutton and Anthony Albanese. The Prime Minister has hit a new low point for approval since taking office. At 53 per cent, it remains healthy enough, but there has been a gradual decline since the start of the year.

This, one would assume, is about voters sending him a message that he needs to refocus attention away from issues such as the voice referendum and back on to the electorate’s primary concerns – cost of living.

The budget in two weeks will presumably allow for a political reset.

The same applies to Dutton. His approval numbers have also gone backwards since he announce the Liberal Party’s opposition to the voice, hitting a new low of just 33 per cent.

There are those in the party who believe Dutton has not been focused on the more central political contest, which should be the economy.

The latest Newspoll shows no sign of movement in the underlying support for the major parties. But it is perhaps a first shot across the bow from voters who believe that neither leader is engaged on issues that are important to them.