(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Australia’s governing party continues to enjoy a position of leadership, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 43 per cent of respondents would vote for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the next election to the House of Representatives, up two points since early November.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Australia’s governing party continues to enjoy a position of leadership, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 43 per cent of respondents would vote for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the next election to the House of Representatives, up two points since early November.
The Coalition of Liberals and National is second with 37 per cent, followed by the Australian 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 Nov. 24, legislators with the opposition coalition endorsed a key government proposal regarding the implementation of a cap-and-trade system for the emission of greenhouse gases.
On Nov. 26, Liberal lawmaker Alby Schultz chided Turnbull for rallying coalition members in support for the government’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), saying that, because of it, "The opposition has no hope of winning the next election. It could possibly be in opposition for at least two elections—make it three."
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?
|
|
Nov. 15 |
Nov. 1 |
Oct. 18 |
|
Australian Labor Party |
43% |
41% |
48% |
|
Coalition (Liberal / National) |
37% |
41% |
34% |
|
Australian Greens |
11% |
10% |
10% |
|
Others |
9% |
8% |
8% |
Two-Party Preferred Vote
|
|
Nov. 15 |
Nov. 1 |
Oct. 18 |
|
Australian Labor Party |
56% |
52% |
59% |
|
Coalition (Liberal / National) |
44% |
48% |
41% |
Source: Newspoll / The Australian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,162 Australian voters, conducted from Nov. 13 to Nov. 15, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
