Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s net approval rating has reached its highest point in 11 months ahead of an election on May 3, as the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s trade war looms over the vote.
Albanese’s center-left Labor government also maintained its narrow lead over the Liberal-National coalition opposition at the campaign mid-point, by 52 percent to 48 percent on a two-party preferred basis, in the latest Newspoll survey published in The Australian newspaper on Sunday.
Trump has loomed large over the five-week election campaign, with Australian markets seeing similar lurches to those worldwide following the US leader’s reciprocal global tariffs. While Australia was subject to a 10 percent levy, its biggest trading partner, China, was eventually hit with 145 percent.
Photo: Reuters
Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton is now trying to distance himself from Trump despite early praise for the US president.
Albanese and his government have worked hard to tie Dutton to Trump, with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles on Sunday accusing the opposition of “trying to copy and paste policies from overseas to try and win an election in Australia.”
The prime minister is seeking to become the first in more than two decades to win consecutive elections in Australia.
The leaders held their campaign launches on Sunday in separate states, with both making big spending promises on housing assistance and tax breaks to capture voter attention.
Labor pledged to allow all first-home buyers to purchase properties with deposits as low as 5 percent, in addition to spending A$10 billion (US$6.3 billion) to build new homes and creating a A$1,000 tax refund for work expenses.
Meanwhile, the coalition promised to allow voters entering the housing market to deduct their mortgage interest from their taxes.
Albanese’s personal approval rating rose to its highest point since May last year, with a net result of minus-4 percent, compared with minus-11 percent the previous week and as low as minus-21 percent in February. In comparison, just 37 percent of Australians surveyed approved of Dutton’s performance, with 56 percent dissatisfied, resulting in a net approval rating of minus-19 percent.
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