CANBERRA, Jan 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, suffered a blow to his approval rating, amid the ongoing bushfire crisis.
According to the latest news poll, which was published on Sunday night, The Australian revealed that, Morrison’s popularity plunged, since he became prime minister in 2018.
It was found that Morrison’s net approval rating, which is calculated by subtracting his dissatisfaction rating from his satisfaction rating, has fallen from negative three in Dec, to negative 22.
By comparison the net rating of Opposition Leader, Anthony Albanese, has risen 10 points to positive nine.
Albanese now leads Morrison as the preferred prime minister for the first time, by a margin of 43 percent to 39; an 18-point swing from Morrison’s 48-34 lead in Dec.
Poll analyst, Kevin Bonham, told The Guardian today that, Morrison’s fall in preferred prime minister polling was “the equal second highest such loss in Newspoll history”.
The Labour Party leads Morrison’s governing Coalition 51-49 on a two-party preferred basis; the first time the government has trailed since winning re-election in May, 2018.
The poll of 1,505 voters was taken amid the ongoing bushfire crisis, during which Morrison has been criticised for poor leadership.
He was forced to apologise in December, after he went on a family holiday to Hawaii, while much of his home state of New South Wales (NSW) burned, while some members of government dismissed the link between the fires and climate change.
During a 30-minute interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Morrison acknowledged that leaving the country during the crisis was a mistake.
“In hindsight, I would not have taken that trip, knowing what I know now,” he said.
