(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Australia’s political scene is definitely experiencing a shift away from the governing party, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 40 per cent of respondents would vote for the opposition alliance of Liberals and Nationals.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Australia’s political scene is definitely experiencing a shift away from the governing party, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 40 per cent of respondents would vote for the opposition alliance of Liberals and Nationals.
The governing Australian Labor Party (ALP) remains second with 35 per cent, followed by the Australian Greens with 15 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 four-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. Since their electoral defeat in 2007, the Liberals have had three different leaders: former defence minister Brendan Nelson, former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull, and former health minister Tony Abbott, who defeated Turnbull in an internal leadership ballot by just one vote in December 2009.
On Jun. 22, an unnamed spokesman for the opposition coalition said that Abbott had recently told a party crowd that they are "within reach of a famous victory" ahead of the next legislative election. He also quoted Abbott as saying that the victory is ‘"within our ready grasp." Abbott later denied having said these words.
Yesterday, Rudd tendered his resignation as ALP leader and prime minister and was substituted by Julia Gillard.
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. 20
|
May 30
|
May 16
|
|
Coalition (Liberal / National)
|
40%
|
41%
|
43%
|
|
Australian Labor Party
|
35%
|
35%
|
37%
|
|
Australian Greens
|
15%
|
16%
|
12%
|
|
Others
|
10%
|
8%
|
8%
|
Two-Party Preferred Vote
|
|
Jun. 20
|
May 30
|
May 16
|
|
Australian Labor Party
|
52%
|
51%
|
50%
|
|
Coalition (Liberal / National)
|
48%
|
49%
|
50%
|
Source: Newspoll / The Australian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,147 Australian voters, conducted from Jun. 18 to Jun. 20, 2010. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
