Polls not on the money

JOSH Frydenberg is putting his political future in the hands of “quiet Australians” amid poll results that suggest he is in danger of losing his seat to an independent candidate.

According to the YouGov MRP poll – commissioned exclusively for News Corp – the Treasurer would lose his seat of Kooyong in Melbourne to “teal” independent Monique Ryan.

But Mr Frydenberg said he was taking the poll’s findings “with a jar of salt”, and was putting his faith in what Scott Morrison calls “the quiet Australians”.

“There’s still a long way to go and the battle will be tight, but … I have worked at my local community for the last 12 years,” Mr Frydenberg said.

According to the poll, if the election were held today Labor would win 80 seats in parliament – picking up 12 from the Coalition and securing a fiveseat majority.

However Mr Frydenberg said he was not taking the poll as gospel.

“We know that from last time around when people wrote us off, yet the Australian people produced a very different result,” he said.

“There are many – as the Prime Minister calls them – quiet Australians out there.

“John Howard called them his battlers. Sir Robert Menzies called them the forgotten people, and in the United Kingdom they’re called the ‘shy Tory’.

“Essentially, these are people who may not answer every poll or phone call … they are going about their daily lives … and they know that Scott Morrison

and the Coalition have been better economic managers.”

Mr Frydenberg said he had been “very disappointed” to hear former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull had pushed for disenfranchised Liberals to turn away from the Coalition and support independents.

“Monique Ryan had called Malcolm Turnbull a national disgrace, and I doubt that Malcolm would want to back someone in that’s called him a national disgrace,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“I’m very focused on winning my seat, but more importantly than that, the Coalition retaining government – we have a very strong case for reelection.”

Based on a sample size of almost 19,000 voters across the country, the YouGov poll revealed losses for the Coalition could be broad, including four seats in Victoria, two in NSW, two in WA, and one each in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.

A further six seats were considered too close to call.

The Coalition would need a late swing toward it of at least 3 per cent in key seats to retain power.

Labor’s campaign spokesman Jason Clare said while he was “sceptical” about the polls, he got the sense “people have had it up to their back teeth with Scott Morrison”.

“(People) are sick of the lies, the rorts, the excuses and the incompetence,” Mr Clare told the Nine Network.

“(People) want something better. We can make child care cheaper, we can fix aged care, we can make Medicare stronger, and we can make it easier to buy a home.”