Canberra: Popular support for Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has fallen amid disputes with states over the Covid-19 vaccine rollout and quarantine.
According to the latest Newspoll published on Sunday night, Morrison’s approval rating has fallen from 58 per cent in mid-May to 54 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.
It coincides with a rise in the proportion of voters dissatisfied with his performance from 38 per cent to 43 per cent, reducing Morrison’s net approval rating from plus 20 in May to plus 11, the lowest it has been since April 2020 after Covid-19 restrictions were first introduced.
The net approval rating for opposition Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese also fell but the proportion of voters who chose him as their preferred prime minister rose two points to 32 per cent.
The poll was conducted after Victoria’s fourth coronavirus lockdown triggered a political brawl, with Albanese joining state and territory leaders in criticising the federal government over the slow vaccine rollout and failure to build dedicated quarantine facilities.
Morrison last week announced A$200 million ($154 million) in funding for a quarantine facility in Victoria but Albanese said it was too late, telling Sky News on Sunday that Australians “can’t afford to keep having these lockdowns”.
Despite Morrison’s personal approval falling, Newspoll found that his governing Coalition has made up ground on Labor.
On a two-party preferred basis, the two major parties are deadlocked at 50-50 with a general election set to be held by May 2022.
It marks the first time since February that the government has not trailed Labor.
