Newspoll 53-47 to Labor, but Turnbull's ratings jump

This week’s Newspoll, conducted 3-6 August from a sample of 1640, gave Labor its sixth consecutive 53-47 lead. Primary votes were 36% Coalition (steady since last fortnight), 36% Labor (down 1), 11% Greens (up 2) and 8% One Nation (down 1). This is the Coalition’s 17th consecutive Newspoll loss under Turnbull; Abbott lost 30 in a row before he was ousted.

38% were satisfied with Turnbull’s performance (up 4) and 50% were dissatisfied (down 4), for a net approval of -12, up eight points. According to Kevin Bonham, this is Turnbull’s best net approval since the 2016 election. Shorten’s net approval was up five points to -15, his best since November 2016.

Turnbull’s ratings jump is likely to be related to the recent terrorist incident where an attempted bombing of an aeroplane was thwarted. If Turnbull’s ratings improvement is a polling blip, Labor should not worry. However, a sustained rise in Turnbull’s ratings would probably lead to better voting intentions for the Coalition.

It appears that the Greens have had 9-10% support in all Newspolls since May 2016. This Newspoll is the first time since then that the Greens have broken out of that range, despite a shocking July. This Newspoll has One Nation’s lowest vote since February.

Some people who support One Nation and similar global parties do so from the left, in an attempt to shake up the established order. As the appeal of populist right parties has faded closer to the election, left-wing parties have surprisingly benefited. At the March WA election, the Greens and Labor overperformed and One Nation underperformed final polls. At the June UK election, Labour overperformed and the UK Independence Party underperformed.

Despite being told that high-income earners paid 50% of all income taxes, voters thought by 61-29 that the tax burden did not fall too heavily on high-income earners. By 57-29, voters thought there were not enough incentives in the tax system for those who want to work hard to earn more. 43% both favoured and opposed Labor’s policy to increase the top marginal tax rate from 47.5% to 49.5%.

Essential at 54-46 to Labor, plus Federal Queensland Galaxy and YouGov

In this week’s Essential, Labor held a 54-46 lead, a two point gain for Labor since last week and a one point gain since last fortnight. Primary votes were 39% Labor, 37% Coalition, 9% Greens, 8% One Nation and 3% Nick Xenophon Team. Labor’s primary vote is up three since last week, and its highest in Essential since April 2016.

Essential uses a two-week rolling average, with a total sample of 1805. The Poll Bludger has said that the one-week sample last fortnight was pro-Coalition, and this has been replaced by a pro-Labor sample, causing the big shift. Additional questions are based on one week’s sample.

In agreement with Newspoll, both leaders gained on net approval since July, with Turnbull up four points to -8 and Shorten up one point to -7.

On resolving same sex marriage, voters favoured a voluntary postal plebiscite followed by a parliamentary vote 43-38. A parliamentary vote with attempts to persuade Liberal members to cross the floor was favoured 43-31. A plebiscite held with the next election was favoured 46-34. Delaying a decision until after the next election was opposed 55-22.

39% thought current industrial laws favoured employers, 12% employees and 29% thought they balanced the interests of both. By 41-30, voters approved of Labor’s proposal to tax family trusts at a 30% rate. 28% thought the Coalition government had increased school funding, 22% decreased and 22% thought school funding had not been changed much.

From the same sample that produced Sunday’s 51-49 result to state Queensland Labor, the Federal Queensland Galaxy poll is 51-49 to the Coalition, a one point gain for the Coalition since late April. Primary votes are 37% Coalition (up 2), 32% Labor (down 1), 12% One Nation (down 3), 7% Greens (steady) and a surprisingly strong 6% for Cory Bernardi’s Conservatives. By 48-35, Queenslanders opposed an Australian republic.

The fortnightly Australian YouGov, conducted 3-7 August from a sample of 1005, had a 50-50 tie by respondent allocated preferences, unchanged on last fortnight. Primary votes were 34% Coalition (down 2), 32% Labor (down 1), 11% Greens (up 1) and 9% One Nation (up 1). Primary votes are very different from Essential and Newspoll, with YouGov’s lean to the Coalition continuing.

Section 44 potential disqualifications

Since two Greens were disqualified in late July, questions have been raised about the Constitutional eligibility of LNP Senator Matt Canavan, One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts, Labor House member Justine Keay, Greens Senator Nick McKim and Liberal House member Julia Banks.

These eligibility questions are covered in detail by Kevin Bonham. It appears that Canavan and Roberts are in the most trouble. Canavan’s story that his mother took out Italian citizenship on his behalf in 2005 when Canavan was 25, and that he never knew, is difficult to believe, especially as Italian voting forms were sent to his mother’s address.

Roberts has claimed he emailed the British consulate on 6 June 2016, three days before nominations for the 2 July election closed, advising that if he was a British citizen, he renounced it. After further correspondence, his citizenship was renounced in December 2016. As Roberts is an extreme climate change denier who demands empirical evidence, what he says may not be credible. Even if what he says is true, the High Court may not think he took “reasonable steps” to renounce before the election.

Less than two months before election, NZ Labour leader resigns

The next New Zealand election will be held on 23 September. NZ elects its 120 members effectively using proportional representation with a 5% threshold. The current conservative National government has held office since 2008. Labour was soundly beaten in 2008, and their vote declined further at the 2011 and 2014 elections; they won just 25.1% in 2014.

On 1 August, following the release of two dreadful polls that gave Labour just 24%, Labour leader Andrew Little resigned, and was replaced by Jacinda Ardern, who was unanimously elected by the Labour caucus. Ardern appears to be a genuine progressive, and she will appeal to the Greens.