Voters regard Anthony Albanese as the country’s “weakest” prime minister in decades, as his rival Peter Dutton’s popularity gains momentum ahead of the looming federal election.
The last Newspoll carried out for the The Australian revealed that a growing number of voters believe Albanese lacks crucial leadership traits.
Only 44 per cent of the 1,258 voters surveyed believed the Prime Minister is a “strong and decisive leader”, a drop of five points from previous polls.
It is also the lowest rating for a sitting prime minister since Newspoll began asking voters following Kevin Rudd’s 2007 election victory.
Dutton, on the other hand, was considered decisive by a consistent 60 percent of voters surveyed.
It is the highest percentage for a federal opposition leader since Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull more than a decade ago.
To make matters worse for the Labor government, most of the polling was carried out before Albanese received a wave of criticism for the two-day delay in condemning the bombing of Melbourne’s Adass Israel synagogue.
The Jewish place of worship was set alight early Friday morning in what Victoria Police believe was a “targeted incident,” but Albanese was slow to call the attack an act of terrorism until Sunday morning, which sparked outrage among Australia’s Jewish community.
Anthony Albanese’s reputation as a “strong and decisive” leader has fallen five percentage points according to the latest Newspoll data.
“My personal opinion is that yes (it is terrorism), but there is a technical process,” he said Sunday morning.
‘…But if you want to see my personal view very clearly, terrorism is something that aims to create fear in the community and the atrocities that occurred at the Melbourne synagogue were clearly designed to create fear in the community. ‘
Dutton took aim at Mr Albanese before his admission on Sunday, criticizing the delay on Sky News.
“This is an act of terrorism, pure and simple, and I think the Prime Minister’s deliberate decision to seek political advantage over the course of the last 12 months on this issue and appeal to a domestic audience of Green voters, I think, has been “Deplorable and one of the worst things I have seen in public life,” said the leader of the Liberal Party.
Jewish leaders also joined calls for Albanese to take more action against anti-Semitism following the attack.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton remains strong in the eyes of voters, with 60 per cent of voters surveyed calling him “decisive”.
Albanese’s “decisive” rating is expected to continue falling in future news polls in the coming months.
Almost half (47 per cent) of respondents agreed that the prime minister is “arrogant”, while 48 did not believe he was “in touch with voters”.
However, more than half (55 percent) agreed that Albanese was “nice,” while 68 percent said he was “experienced.”
Dutton had still defeated him, and 70 per cent of voters agreed that he too had experience, but was considered more arrogant than the Prime Minister.
Only 56 percent of voters believed Albanese had a “vision” for the nation, compared to 61 percent for Dutton.
When asked who would make a better Prime Minister, Albanese was unchanged at 45 per cent, while Dutton fell three points to 38 per cent. Another 17 percent have not yet decided who they will vote for at the polls.
On a two-party preference basis, the Coalition primary vote goes ahead, despite a penny drop to 39 per cent, while Labor remains stable at 33 per cent.
It comes after inside sources suggested Labor would suffer in the next election if Albanese remains in charge.
Some experts have suggested that the party would be better placed under the leadership of current treasurer Jim Chalmers.
Another poll last week suggested the Albanian government would not maintain its majority in the House of Representatives and the Coalition is set to take nine seats in the next election.
The Prime Minister’s first term would be the first Labor government to change in three years since James Scullin led the party to a crushing defeat during the Great Depression.
The shocking prediction came after Accent Research and RedBridge Group surveyed almost 5,000 voters, who then modeled what the makeup of the federal parliament is likely to look like after the next election.
Polls show New South Wales will be a crucial electoral battleground, with five seats likely to change hands and another seven teetering in the same direction.