Latest polls deem election ‘impossible to predict’

PARTY leaders have a massive competition on their hands as recent polls indicate that the election could be anyone’s game.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and opposition Labor Party leader Bill Shorten. According to recent polls, both parties are head to head as the election campaign takes off. Picture: AFP/William West

LABOR is maintaining its lead of 51 per cent to the coalition’s 49 per cent in two-party preferred terms, the latest Newspoll shows.

The poll, taken for The Australian, also reveals that two out of five voters would be prepared to see a reduction in taxpayer-funded entitlements, such as family payments, as a means to repair the budget.

The post-budget poll of 1739 people taken from Thursday, May 5 to Saturday, May 7 gave no lift to the coalition’s primary vote, which is still at 41 per cent for the third consecutive survey while Labor gained one point to 37 per cent.

Fifty-three per cent of voters expect Malcolm Turnbull to remain as Prime Minister. Picture Kym Smith

Newspoll found 39 per cent of voters said they would be worse off as a result of the budget, while just 18 per cent believe they will be better off, with 43 per cent uncommitted.

Mr Turnbull begins the campaign with a two-point rise as the better prime minister, leading Mr Shorten by 49 per cent to 27 per cent.

Meanwhile, the latest Fairfax-Ipsos poll shows that the government is on level pegging with the opposition as they go into campaign mode for a July 2 election.

With a lead of 51-49 or 50-50 if voter preferences are taken into account, the election result cannot be predicted, Fairfax Media reported.

But 53 per cent of voters still expect the Turnbull government to survive, the poll shows.

When the 1410 respondents were asked for their second preference, in the national phone survey also conducted May 5-7, the two sides were locked together at 50-50.

Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Picture: AAP Image/Scott Gelston

Mr Turnbull remains strongly favoured by voters in the head-to-head contest, leading Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister 51-29.

The coalition’s primary vote came in at 44 per cent compared to Labor on 33 per cent.

The poll also showed voters marking down the recent budget as unfair, 43 per cent to 37 per cent.

Originally published as Latest polls deem election ‘impossible to predict’