Labour Holds Marginal Edge Over Coalition, Assessment Of Leaders Remains Poor

The Liberal-National Coalition made marginal gains on Labour in several performance metrics across the AFR's Ipsos poll and the Australian's Newspoll, with the assessment of both the Prime Minister and Opposition leader still in decline.

• The AFR poll showed that while Labour's primary vote lead has shrank by 2pp, the main opposition party remains ahead of the ruling Coalition, with a third of voters either backing a minor party or still undecided. Labour's primary vote was 34% against the Coalition's 32%.
• Voters keep political leaders in remarkably low regard, with PM Scott Morrison scoring a record-low trustworthiness rating, with Labour leader Anthony Albanese plumbing record lows in the rating of his economic management. They were tied at 42% in terms of overall competency, the worst level for a PM/Opposition leader in nearly three decades.
• The Australian's Newspoll also pointed to a tight race in terms of primary vote shares, putting Labour on 37% and the Coalition on 36%. Scott Morrison remained the preferred Prime Minister compared to Anthony Albanese by 46% to 37%, despite a downtick in the current Premier's net approval rating.