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Scott Morrison has recorded the worst Newspoll result since the 2019 bushfires and his Hawaiian holiday after a month of controversy over an alleged rape at Parliament House and the furore over the fate of the Attorney-General Christian Porter.
In the latest Newspoll, published exclusively in The Australian, Labor leader Anthony Albanese has secured an election winning lead in the two-party preferred vote with a 52:48 result.
The poll was taken amid controversy over Defence Minister Linda Reynolds calling an alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins “a lying cow” and going on medical leave, the Attorney-General going on mental health leave after separate historical allegations or rape in 1989 and concerns over the speed of the vaccine rollout.
Mr Porter completely denies the allegations and has not been charged with any offence, nor is he under police investigation.
RELATED: Female Labor staffers expose sex ‘secrets’
RELATED: PM won’t attend March 4 Justice, will meet organisers ‘in private’
The primary vote for the Liberal and Nationals parties has tumbled three points to 39 per cent after four weeks of damaging headlines since news.com.au broke Brittany Higgins story on February 15.
Labor’s primary vote has increased by two points, to 39 per cent, delivering Labor an election winning lead of 52:48 on a two-party preferred basis.
The shock poll result follows a string of multi-billion dollar announcements by the government in the last fortnight including a permanent increase to JobSeeker payments and half price airfares for 800,000 holiday-makers.
There was some good news for the Prime Minister Scott Morrison with his personal approval ratings remaining high and only falling two points to 62 per cent.
The Labor leader’s approval rating increased by four-points to 42 per cent in approval. But Mr Albanese is also facing internal calls to tackle sexual harassment and a toxic work culture with women on a 1300-member strong private Facebook group warning they will no longer “keep secrets” for predators in the ALP.
On the question of who is the better prime minister, Mr Morrison recorded a significant slump with a four-point fall to 56 per cent according to Newspoll while Mr Albanese gained four points against to secure a 30 per cent rating as the better PM.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has agreed to personally meet the organisers of the Women’s March 4 Justice on Monday but will not attend the rally in person.
More than 75,000 women and men are expected to rally across Australia in protests that follow former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins revelations of an alleged rape at Parliament House and historical rape allegations against Attorney-General Christian Porter.
Organiser Janine Hendry told news.com.au that while the PM had declined an opportunity to attend the rally he was now offering the women a meeting in his office after the rally.
“I have written to him and I asked him to stand with us and march with us and that offer still stands,’’ she told news.com.au.
“I really need more information before I decide if I do choose to go with the meeting who I will take with me.”
Foreign Minister Marise Payne sparked anger over the weekend after revealing that she would refuse to meet Ms Hendry in person to accept a petition.
The first petition calls for a “full independent investigation into all cases of gendered violence and timely referrals to appropriate authorities”. It has also called for a Gender Equality Act to be created immediately, which should include a “gender audit of parliamentary practices”.
All major Australian cities will host a protest with smaller gatherings also planned in regional areas including the central coast of New South Wales, to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and Toowoomba in Queensland’s south west.
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