Prime Minister Scott Morrison has invoked deputy Labor leader Richard Marles apparent ties with the Chinese embassy in defending his decision to brief the opposition on the AUKUS agreement in the final days before the announcement.
This week’s Newspoll, conducted July 14-17 from a sample of 1,506, gave Labor a 53-47 lead, a two-point gain for Labor since the previous Newspoll three weeks ago. This is the biggest Labor Newspoll lead for this parliamentary term.
Primary votes were 39% Coalition (down two), 39% Labor (up two), 10% Greens (down one) and 3% One Nation (steady). Figures are from The Poll Bludger.
51% (down four) were satisfied with Scott Morrison’s performance, while 45% (up four) were dissatisfied, for a net approval of +6, down eight points. This is Morrison’s worst net approval since the COVID pandemic began.
Anthony Albanese’s net approval was down three points to -8. Morrison retained a 51-33 lead over Albanese as better PM (53-33 previously).