Newspoll: Nuclear winter for Labor and Liberals as support falls for major parties in energy debate

The bitter political stoush over Australia’s energy future has turned voters off both major parties, with a new poll showing that voters only narrowly oppose the Coalition’s nuclear plan.

Younger voters were more concerned about the Coalition’s plan to turn aging coal-fired power stations into nuclear plants, which had the lowest disapproval rating among the 18 to 34 age group.

In the latest Newspoll published in The Australian, primary support for the Labor and Liberal parties fell to 32 and 36 per cent, respectively.

The new figures show that 42 per cent of Australians backed the Coalition’s proposal for nuclear energy across Australia, compared to 45 per cent who opposed the idea. One in seven voters was undecided.

Opposition to the proposal shrunk across age groups — more than 45 per cent of under-50s opposed it, dropping to 40 per cent for over 65s.

On a two-party preferred basis, the Government raised its support to 51 per cent and the opposition to 49 per cent after pulling even at the last poll.

Labor won the last election in 2022 on a two-party preferred 52.1 per cent to the Coalition’s 47.9 per cent.

While the Greens rose to 13 per cent — the highest level since the election — other parties, including the Teals, rose two points to 12 per cent, and One Nation stayed steady at 7 per cent.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton were the hardest hit in the latest Newspoll. Both saw falls in their approval ratings. Both are now sitting in negative territory, with Mr Albanese recording a net disapproval of minus 11 and Mr Dutton minus 16.

Mr Albanese remained the preferred Prime Minister at 46 per cent, compared to Mr Dutton’s 38 per cent. Sixteen per cent were uncommitted to either leader.

The poll comes ahead of the final parliamentary sitting week before the winter break, where the Government is seeking to push through its live export ban, and the fallout is expected to continue from WA Senator Fatima Payman’s decision to cross the floor and support the recognition of Palestine.