Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has overtaken Anthony Albanese as Australia’s preferred leader, new poll results have revealed.
The Resolve Strategic poll, conducted for the Sydney Morning Herald, showed 36 per cent of voters placed Mr Dutton as preferred prime minister over Mr Albanese who scored 35 per cent.
The results mark a five percentage point drop in support for Mr Albanese as preferred leader and two percentage point rise for Mr Dutton since the last Resolve Political Monitor poll.
The fresh poll, which surveyed 1,607 voters from last Tuesday to Saturday, also quizzed Aussies on which party they thought would best perform to manage key political issues.
A total of 40 per cent of voters ranked the Coalition as best placed to manage the economy, compared to 24 per cent in favour of Labor.
Asked whether Mr Dutton or Mr Albanese would perform best at keeping the cost of living low, 32 per cent ranked the Liberal Party first followed by Labor at 25 per cent.
The Coalition was also the top pick to best manage national security and defence, with 42 per cent in favour of Mr Dutton compared to 23 per cent for Mr Albanese.
In terms of issues regarding immigration and refugees, 38 per cent of voters preferred the Coalition to manage these areas over Labor, which scored 21 per cent.
Labor’s primary vote also took a hit, falling from 29 per cent to 28 per cent, while core support for the Coalition was unchanged over the past month at 36 per cent.
Asked about Mr Dutton’s narrow lead over Mr Albanese as preferred prime minister, shadow finance minister Jane Hume said the only poll that matters “is the one on election day”.
“But it is telling us what Australians already know, that they’re doing it tough, that this is a government without a plan for their economic future,” she told Sky News Australia on Monday.
The poll comes after a week of heated debate between the Coalition and Labor over climate change policy, after Mr Dutton flagged he would oppose the government’s current goal to cut carbon emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 should he be voted into office next year.
Speaking to Sky News Australia on Sunday, Mr Dutton reaffirmed his commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050, but cast doubt over Labor’s 2030 emissions target.
The Liberal Leader claimed the Albanese government was “wrecking” the nation’s economy with what he described as a “renewables-only” energy policy.
“We have to make sure we have got a realistic system and energy is the economy,” Mr Dutton told Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell on Sunday Agenda.
“It is not just your household power bill that is going through the roof, it’s the local butcher and the local IGA… the local farmer, anyone who has got cold storage.
“That is why under Labor you’re paying so much more for your groceries when you go the supermarket.”
Asked if he would seek to change legislation around the 2030 target should the Coalition win the 2025 federal election, Mr Dutton said he would act in the nation’s “best interest”.