(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – More people in Australia are now inclined to support the governing Australian Labor Party (ALP), according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 44 per cent of respondents would back the ALP in the next legislative election, up three points since mid-June.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – More people in Australia are now inclined to support the governing Australian Labor Party (ALP), according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 44 per cent of respondents would back the ALP in the next legislative election, up three points since mid-June.
The opposition coalition of Liberals and Nationals is behind with 37 per cent, followed by the Australia Greens with 10 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 12-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. In September 2008, Turnbull won a new internal leadership race, edging Nelson by four votes.
On Jun. 19, Turnbull asked Rudd and Australian treasurer Wayne Swan to resign after accusing them of providing car dealer friend John Grant with bail-out funds from taxpayer money. On Jun. 22, it was revealed that an e-mail that Turnbull used to corroborate his accusations had been forged by an unnamed Treasury official.
On Jun. 29, Turnbull—who has been severely criticized by some members of his own Liberal party—declared: "Certainly we’ve had a tough week. There’s no doubt about that, but we fought back, we’ve stood our ground and, you know, one of the tests of leadership is how you deal with adversity."
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?
|
|
Jun. 28
|
Jun. 14
|
May 31
|
|
Australian Labor Party
|
44%
|
41%
|
43%
|
|
Coalition (Liberal / National)
|
37%
|
40%
|
38%
|
|
Australian Greens
|
10%
|
11%
|
10%
|
|
Others
|
9%
|
8%
|
9%
|
Two-Party Preferred Vote
|
|
Jun. 28
|
Jun. 14
|
May 31
|
|
Australian Labor Party
|
56%
|
53%
|
55%
|
|
Coalition (Liberal / National)
|
44%
|
47%
|
45%
|
Source: Newspoll / The Australian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,156 Australian voters, conducted from Jun. 26 to Jun. 28, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
