Key posts
- Voters turn against Coalition in key states but Labor still weak in Queensland
- Turnbull encourages voters to back independents to ‘thwart’ Liberal factions
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Voters turn against Coalition in key states but Labor still weak in Queensland
Voters have turned against the Coalition across the country’s three biggest states in a powerful trend since the last election that exposes the government to defeat but also reveals a challenge for Labor in lifting its support in Victoria and Queensland.
The Coalition has suffered significant falls in its primary vote in Victoria, NSW and Queensland as part of a national trend that has cut its support from 41 per cent at the last election to 34 per cent in the opening weeks of this year’s election campaign.
But Labor has only increased its primary vote from 33 to 34 per cent nationwide over the same period and remains relatively weak in Queensland, with core support of just 29 per cent in a key state where it is hoping to win at least one or two seats.
Labor has also lost ground in Victoria, where its primary vote has fallen from 37 to 34 per cent since the last election, at a time when the Greens have surged ahead and independent candidates are gaining supporters and donations to their campaigns.
The state-by-state analysis in the Resolve Political Monitor, conducted exclusively for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age by research firm Resolve Strategic, is based on responses from 2630 voters in two stages from April 11 to 16 and April 26 to 30.
Read the full analysis here.
Turnbull encourages voters to back independents to ‘thwart’ Liberal factions
Washington: Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has encouraged Australians to vote for independents, a month after he declined to say if he would vote for Liberal MP Dave Sharma in his old seat of Wentworth.
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaking in Sydney last year. Credit:Steven Siewert
In an intervention likely to infuriate the ex-colleagues Turnbull led to victory in 2016, the former Liberal leader has entered the fray in a speech concluding that “even if the members of a political party cannot escape from the thrall of the dominant faction, their traditional supporters in the electorate can do so by voting for an independent who has a real chance of success”.
Due to address the Washington Harvard Club at 8am Friday (AEST), Turnbull is expected to say that the Liberal Party had once been a broad church of liberal and conservative traditions, but since his “deposition in 2018”, moderate voices had become increasingly marginalised, “especially on the toxically controversial issue of climate change where the political right, supported by [Rupert] Murdoch’s media, have opposed effective action for many years”.
In a copy of the speech provided to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, he notes there is also growing grassroots support for small-l liberal independent candidates who are typically progressive on climate and social issues and are now threatening his former colleagues in once-safe Liberal seats.
Read the full article here.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning and thanks for your company.
It’s Friday, May 6. I’m Ashleigh McMillan and I’ll be anchoring our live election coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started.
Voters have turned against the Coalition across the country’s three biggest states – suffering significant falls in its primary vote in Victoria, NSW and Queensland as part of a national trend that has cut its support from 41 per cent at the last election to 34 per cent in the opening weeks of this year’s election campaign. However, Labor has only increased its primary vote from 33 to 34 per cent nationwide over the same period and remains relatively weak in Queensland.
Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison on the campaign trail.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen, James Brickwood
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has encouraged Australians to vote for independents, saying in a speech that “even if the members of a political party cannot escape from the thrall of the dominant faction, their traditional supporters in the electorate can do so by voting for an independent who has a real chance of success”.
Malcolm Turnbull will address Washington’s Harvard Club at 8am AEST on Thursday May 6.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
- In a fiery debate last night, Dr Monique Ryan, the independent challenger for the crucial Liberal seat of Kooyong in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, launched a piercing attack on Treasurer Josh Frydenberg accusing him of being the “Treasurer for NSW”.
Josh Frydenberg and Monique Ryan. Credit:SMH/The Age
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