(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The Australian Labor Party (ALP) remains the most popular political organization in the country, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 41 per cent of respondents would vote for the ALP in the next election to the House of Representatives.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The Australian Labor Party (ALP) remains the most popular political organization in the country, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 41 per cent of respondents would vote for the ALP in the next election to the House of Representatives.
The Coalition of Liberals and Nationals is second with 38 per cent, up four points since late September. The Australian Greens are third with 13 per cent. Australia’s preferential voting system—where electors indicate an order of predilection for each contender, and the ballots from smaller parties are re-distributed—gives the ALP a 10-point lead over the Coalition.
Australia held a federal election in November 2007. Final results gave the ALP 85 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives. ALP leader Kevin Rudd was officially sworn in as prime minister in December, bringing an end to the 11-year tenure of Liberal leader John Howard as head of Australia’s government.
Howard failed to retain his seat in the Bennelong constituency and stepped down as Liberal leader. Brendan Nelson—a former defence minister—defeated former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull in an internal leadership ballot by just three votes. On Sept. 16, Turnbull won a new internal leadership race, edging Nelson by four votes.
On Oct. 16, Turnbull criticized Rudd’s handling of the economy, saying, "One minute he’s saying that (…) executive salaries are too high, the next minute he’s having lunch with them. The big message that he should be sending to the big end of town is: what about those rate cuts feeding through to small business? What about these guys here? Because they are the ones that are providing most of the jobs in our nation."
Polling Data
If a federal election to the House of Representatives were held today, which one of the following would you vote for? If "Uncommitted", to which one of these do you have a leaning?
|
Oct. 12 |
Sept. 21 |
Sept. 7 |
|
|
Australian Labor Party |
41% |
42% |
44% |
|
Coalition (Liberal / National) |
38% |
34% |
37% |
|
Australian Greens |
13% |
10% |
11% |
|
Others |
8% |
10% |
8% |
Two-Party Preferred Vote
|
Oct. 12 |
Sept. 21 |
Sept. 7 |
|
|
Australian Labor Party |
55% |
55% |
56% |
|
Coalition (Liberal / National) |
45% |
45% |
44% |
Source: Newspoll / The Australian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,149 Australian voters, conducted from Oct. 10 to Oct. 12, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
