Labor hit by cost of living
The Albanese government’s midterm malaise looks to have taken hold as voters continue to shun its handling of the continued cost of living crunch, new polling shows.
Conducted by Sydney-based pollsters Freshwater Strategy, the new electoral survey shows Labor and the Coalition are neck and neck in the two party preferred stakes at 50 per cent each.
Since the 2022 election, Labor has shed two points while the Coalition has risen by five points, the polling finds.
In a sign of mounting frustration with the government’s strategy, just over half of all voters surveyed believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. The poll indicated that even as 74 per cent of voters identified cost of living pressures as their most pressing issue, 80 per cent say the Albanese government has failed to address the issue.
Household budgets have come under increased strain since early 2022 as soaring inflation sends real incomes in reverse and the Reserve Bank’s aggressive round of interest rate hikes strains borrower’s ability to meet mortgage repayments.
But as the government doubles down on its green energy strategy, voters are overwhelmingly sceptical of its ability to deliver on its promise to cut household power bills by $275 a year in 2025, when compared with prices before the 2022 election.
The poll found 43 per cent of Labor supporters, 61 per cent of the Greens supporters, and 81 per cent of Coalition supporters didn’t expect Energy Minister Chris Bowen to deliver on this commitment.
The scepticism comes despite the Bureau of Statistics reporting that the government’s interventions to take the edge of higher power prices have helped keep household costs lower.
The PM can find some solace in the polling data, however, with Mr Albanese (47 per cent) maintaining a lead over Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (38 per cent) on the preferred prime minister measure.