Australian PM Loses Popular Support: Poll

Scott Morrison

CANBERRA, Nov 15 (NNN-XINHUA) – Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, lost ground as the nation’s preferred leader, a poll found.

The latest Newspoll, which was published last night, revealed that, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Anthony Albanese, has closed the gap to Morrison.

It found that 46 percent of respondents identified Morrison as their preferred PM, compared to 38 percent for Albanese.

It is the tightest gap between the two since Mar, 2020, and marks a major turnaround from Feb when Morrison led 61-26.

The poll of 1,524 voters was taken in the wake of Morrison’s appearance at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, where he committed to a 2050 net zero emissions target.

Albanese has been a fierce critic of Morrison’s signature climate policy, describing it as a “scam” that lacks detail.

The Labour leader promised that he would release his own climate policy before the end of 2021.

According to Newspoll, Labour leads Morrison’s coalition 53-47 on a two-party preferred basis, a slight swing in the government’s favour from 54-46 at the start of Oct.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said, they intend to vote Labour as their first preference at the next general election, which is due to be held by May, 2022, compared to 37 percent for the coalition.