Malcolm Turnbull’s opinion poll momentum continues, with the latest Fairfax Ipsos poll recording a massive 56% to 44% two-party-preferred lead for the Coalition and the new prime minister with a commanding preferred prime minister rating over Bill Shorten.
Turnbull is preferred by 69% of voters, according to the poll, compared with the Labor leader’s 18% – the same popularity level John Howard had when the now defunct Bulletin magazine asked on its front cover in 1988: “Why does this man bother?”
Despite weeks of speculation about raising and broadening the base of the goods and services tax, and no major new policy announcements from the new prime minister, Turnbull’s polling surge continues.
The poll, taken from 12 to 14 November, found Labor’s primary vote at 29%, the Coalition’s on 48% and the Greens on 13%.
Sixty-nine per cent of voters approve of the way Turnbull is doing his job, while 16% disapprove, leaving him with a net approval rating of 53%. Twenty-nine per cent approve of Shorten’s performance and 57% disapprove – a net approval rating of -28%.
Only 28% of voters support an increase in the GST, according to the poll, but 52% say they support it if combined with tax cuts and other types of compensation.
