Labor remains in the box seat to form government at Saturday’s federal election, with a key poll giving it a healthy two-party lead over the Coalition.
The final Resolve poll of the campaign, published this evening by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, has the ALP leading the Coalition 53-47 in two-party preferred terms – a wider lead than what it recorded at the last election.
First preferences are more mixed, with Labor steady at 31 per cent and the Coalition at 35 per cent, up slightly from the previous poll.
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The Greens (14 per cent) and One Nation (7 per cent) have also recorded a 1 percentage point increase, while support for independents has dropped to 8 per cent.
“On a two-party basis, that’s 53-47 to Labor,” 9News political editor Charles Croucher said.
The poll of more than 2000 voters has offered a stern rebuke of Peter Dutton’s leadership during the campaign.
The opposition leader’s net approval has fallen to minus 24, down 6 per cent over the last fortnight and a far cry from the positive rating he had earlier in the year.
Anthony Albanese’s net approval rating is steady at 1 per cent, and he is comfortably ahead in the preferred prime minister stakes.
“Anthony Albanese remains the preferred prime minister with a 16-point lead,” Croucher said.
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“At Christmas, the pair were tied.”
There were a few slivers of good news for the Coalition, including the high proportion of undecided voters.
“One in five surveyed said they weren’t committed to their choice, so there are still votes to be won for our leaders on the campaign,” Croucher said.
Dutton has consistently brushed off concerns about his slide in the polls during the campaign, pointing to internal Liberal polling which he says indicates the Coalition can form government this weekend.
Albanese has appeared the more confident of the two leaders at the start of the final week of campaigning, making several unscripted public appearances over the last two days, while Dutton today abandoned one planned press conference due to anti-nuclear protesters and cut another one off after little more than 15 minutes.
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