Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton are struggling to attract a majority of voters to back them as the preferred leader of the respective parties, according to Newspoll.
The latest survey for The Australian showed only 28 per cent of voters nominated Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton as their preferred leaders of their respective Labor and coalition parties, ahead of five other chosen candidates.
For Labor, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek was backed by 13 per cent of voters while former leader Bill Shorten was the third pick among voters with 10 per cent support averaged across all demographics. Treasurer Jim Chalmers enjoyed only eight per cent support.
For the coalition, opposition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was the next most favoured behind Mr Dutton on 14 per cent followed by deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley at six per cent.
The poll showed the coalition’s primary vote lifted two points to 38 per cent while Labor’s also rose a point to 33 per cent during a difficult fortnight for the government, which included the defection of Senator Fatima Payman to the crossbenches over her support of a Palestinian state.
Support for the Greens remained unchanged at 13 per cent while backing for those in the “others” category – minority parties and Âindependents – dipped two points to 10 per cent.
The survey showed One Nation was down one point to six per cent.
On a two-party-preferred basis, Labor continues to lead the coalition by 51 per cent to 49 per cent – unchanged from the previous poll.
The Newspoll was conducted Âbetween July 15 and July 19 and interviewed 1258 voters throughout Australia.
