Support for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has fallen to its lowest levels since he took office more than a year ago, an opinion poll showed yesterday, potentially loosening his already tenuous grip on power.
Approval ratings for Turnbull had fallen to 46 percent by Nov. 17, the Fairfax poll showed, a fall of 4 percentage points from the previous survey in June.
With support dwindling, Turnbull has sought to demonstrate his leadership by pushing through several laws that were the centerpiece of his narrow election win in July.
Photo: Reuters
However, a hostile Senate, where Turnbull’s conservative coalition failed to gain a clear majority, has fought him at every turn. Political commentators have questioned how long he will survive as prime minister.
In the latest blow, Turnbull was forced to accept another compromise legislative deal, this time with a drastic weakening of a planned tax hike on foreign travelers.
The government had originally planned to make foreign travelers on working holiday visas pay a tax of 32.5 percent on every Australian dollar earned.
Currently, like other workers, backpackers do not start paying tax until their annual income exceeds A$18,200 (US$13,621).
Fierce opposition from farmers, who complained bitterly that the levy could affect labor supply at harvest time, forced the government to retreat and in September it watered down its plans to 19 percent.
That led to a political stalemate with the Labor opposition, the Greens and independent crossbench senators demanding 10.5 percent, in line with New Zealand.
Turnbull was finally forced to reduce the rate by more than half to 15 percent.
“Compromise is a reality in this parliament that we have before us,” Autralian Senator and Minister for Regional Development Fiona Nash told reporters in Canberra. “We have an outcome that will deliver for farmers.”
Farmers said the higher tax would discourage holiday workers who make up the bulk of fruit pickers at harvest time, threatening an industry that is set for record exports of A$2.27 billion next season.
Demonstrating his roller-coaster performance as leader, yesterday’s dramatic compromise came only days after he scored a much-needed victory in parliament with the passage of two other controversial bills last week.
However, Turnbull faces an uphill task in introducing another cornerstone piece of legislation aimed at creating a building industry watchdog.
That bill was one of two he used to invoke rarely used powers to dissolve both houses of parliament and call the July election, which he fought on his government’s record of economic management.
He has less than a week to push it through before parliament rises for the year.
“If Turnbull isn’t able to pass the building industry legislation, I expect further poll slides,” said Haydon Manning, professor of political science at Flinders University.
Additional reporting by AFP
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