Peter Dutton continues to advance in the polls against Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as Australians admit to feeling nervous about Donald Trump’s surprise return to the White House.
The coalition opposition leader’s personal approval rating was the big factor among 1,621 voters surveyed in Resolve Political Monitor’s latest poll for the Sydney Morning Herald.
The poll was conducted after Trump’s landslide US presidential election, where voters expressed concern about what the rebel Republican’s victory would mean for Australia.
The percentage of voters who think Dutton was doing a good job rose five points to 45 percent.
Those who take a dim view of his performance fell from 41 percent to 39 percent, giving Dutton his strongest net approval to date on Resolve Political Monitor: five percent.
By comparison, Albanese’s net performance rating has fallen to -14 percent, even though the number who thought he was doing a good job rose from 35 percent to 38 percent over the past month.
However, the two leaders are tied at 37 percent each on who would be prime minister.
The result has raised questions about why Dutton’s passing personal rating has not translated into substantial votes.
“We certainly now consider him stronger, more principled and more competent (than before) in our analysis,” Resolve director Jim Reed told the Sydney Morning Herald,
Voters are more “disappointed” than angry with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured right with his fiancée Jodie Haydon)
Reed said voters still see Albanese as a “good guy” who they rarely get angry with.
“Instead, it’s like the most cutting comment made by parents: It’s not that they’re angry, just disappointed,” Mr. Reed said.
“It is the word that appears most frequently. They expected something different.’
It comes as primary support for the Coalition has risen to 40 per cent for the first time since the 2022 election in the latest Newspoll conducted for The Australian.
Mr Dutton’s net approval now surpasses that of Mr Albanese, as the Prime Minister’s personal ratings fall to a new low.
Support for the Coalition consolidated with a one point rise to 39 per cent, its highest Resolve result since the last federal election.
Labour’s support remained unchanged at 30 per cent, while those backing the Greens fell from 12 to 11 per cent.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton recorded his highest job approval rating in the latest Resolve Political Monitor poll.
Trump remains largely viewed negatively by Australians, with 54 per cent disapproving and 26 per cent positive.
Less than 30 per cent thought Trump’s second term as president would be beneficial for Australia compared to 40 percent fear a negative impact.
Trump has threatened to impose blanket tariffs and voters were divided over how to respond if this included Australian exports to the United States.
While 46 per cent wanted to impose retaliatory tariffs on US imports to Australia, 43 per cent were unsure, while 13 per cent were against any in-kind response.
As Trump claimed his higher tariffs would be imposed on Chinese goods, 57 per cent of voters said Australia should stay out of any developing conflict between the economic giants.
Trump’s election has also weakened support for the AUKUS nuclear submarine defense pact with the United States and the United Kingdom.
Reed said the poll results were in line with months of results showing Australians preferred Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to Trump.
‘“The fact that more Australians believe this is a bad outcome for Australia undoubtedly reflects an aversion to Trump and the fact that our political spectrum is more centric to the left,” he said.
Australian voters are wary of Donald Trump after the Republican triumphed in the US presidential election last week.
“But there are also misgivings, or at least uncertainties, about what Mr. Trump could do to affect us on trade and defense.”
While 35 percent wanted to move forward with the deal, 27 percent believed the submarine purchase should be paused or stopped.
Unlike the previous Biden Administration or the defeated Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, Trump has signaled that he wants to withdraw US support for Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invaders.
If this happens, 53 percent still wanted to continue supporting Ukraine, while 19 percent would follow the American lead in withdrawing military and other aid and 29 percent were undecided.