CANBERRA: According to a recent poll, public support for the Australian government has plummeted to its lowest level in more than three years.
On a two-party preferred basis, the opposition Labor Party leads the ruling Coalition 56-44, according to the first Newspoll of 2022 released by News Corp Australia on Sunday night. It's a six-point increase from Labor's 53-47 lead in the most recent survey in 2021, and it's the opposition's largest lead over the government since September 2018.
The poll indicated that primary support for Labor has risen to 41 percent, while support for the Coalition has fallen to 34 percent, the lowest level since Prime Minister Scott Morrison toppled his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull as Coalition leader in August 2018. The poll found broad dissatisfaction with the federal government's handling of the Covid-19 wave, which was led by the Omicron variant.
Morrison's net approval rating, which is computed by subtracting disapproval from approval, fell 11 points to -19, the lowest it has been since early 2020. His lead against Labor leader Anthony Albanese as the people's favourite prime minister has shrunk from 9 points in December to only 2.
Despite the Coalition's low performance, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg deemed Morrison to be the best candidate to lead the government into the election. "Scott Morrison has done a fantastic job in extremely tough circumstances, and he will be the first Prime Minister since John Howard to go to an election after serving a full term," he told the media on Monday.
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