Voters give Scott Morrison a clip around his tin ear

Whereas two weeks ago his party vote suffered in the wake of the rape allegations, voter attention has now turned to Scott Morrison himself.

Scott Morrison has chewed through some political capital, but with an approval rating of 55 per cent there is plenty of credit still in the bank. Picture: Getty Images

Voters have finally given Scott Morrison a clip for what many might regard as a tin-eared response to the treatment of women and the catalogue of depravity out of Canberra they have been forced to consume over the past six weeks.

This will come as no surprise to a Prime Minister who has publicly admitted he has handled it poorly and been forced to apologise for doing so.

While they may not be blaming him for the sex scandals, alleged crimes and the otherwise sub-human behaviour of several politicians and their staffers, voters have registered their displeasure in his management of it.

And they expect him to fix it. They also expect him to listen and acknowledge the deeper, systemic issues relating to the broader treatment of women, for which a political fix would completely miss the point.

Anthony Albanese in Jarvie Park in Marrickville, in Sydney’s inner-west, on Sunday. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

The latest Newspoll numbers confirm that the combined weight of all these issues has now cut through electorally.

Whereas two weeks ago it was the party vote that suffered in the wake of the rape allegations, with minimal damage to the Prime Minister’s personal standing, voter attention has now turned to Morrison himself. Yet it is far from being a crisis of confidence in Morrison or his government. The Coalition’s primary vote, which had a three-point drop in the last poll to 39 per cent, has recovered to 40 per cent. During bushfires, it dipped as low as 38 per cent. And Anthony Albanese was the preferred prime minister.

While there is no question Morrison has chewed through some political capital over the past month, with an approval rating of 55 per cent there is plenty of credit still in the bank.

To give it some perspective, at its lowest point in September 2011, Julia Gillard’s approval ratings fell to 23 per cent. Tony Abbott’s got as low as 24 per cent in February 2015.

In 2016, less than a year into his leadership, Malcolm Turnbull’s satisfaction levels dropped to as low as 29 per cent and even Kevin Rudd, who outranks every other leader as having the high levels of approval, fell back to 32 per cent in September 2013. John Howard’s satisfaction ratings reached lows of 28 per cent in 1998 and 2001. Paul Keating’s approval rating bottomed out at 17 per cent in August 1993.

The lowest approval rating for Morrison so far is 37 per cent, during the height of the bushfire crisis when his political judgement was being intensely tested, with critics suggesting there was no hope of a political recovery.

What the latest Newspoll can’t reveal yet is whether Morrison has sustained permanent political damage.

If his numbers don’t fall further in the coming weeks, he will remain in a strong position, having retained most of the goodwill voters from his management of the pandemic.