Backlash for Peter Dutton’s coalition as mortgage belt electorate react to work-from-home ban

Opposition plans to roll back work-from-home arrangements for public servants have cost the coalition support in crucial mortgage-belt seats.

Polling by YouGov, provided to AAP, shows Labor gaining ground on the opposition in outer-metropolitan electorates, weeks out from a federal election.

The government had been trailing the coalition in primary votes in outer suburban seats earlier in March, with the opposition leading 40 per cent to 28 per cent.

But the latest poll had Labor just one point behind the opposition, 35 per cent to 36 per cent.

Electorates in outer suburban areas are crucial for the coalition to form government, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton targeting mortgage-belt suburbs in his election pitch.

The coalition’s plan to require public servants to be back in the office and not work from home had shifted views, YouGov’s director of public data Paul Smith said.

“Policies such as getting rid of work-from-home and opposing right to disconnect laws impact working families, and they have noticed this, and they don’t like these policies,” he told AAP.

“There has been a small strengthening of Labor’s polls in outer-metropolitan sets over the last three to four weeks.

“It’s a small shift, but it’s significant and what it has done is made the path to victory harder for Dutton.”

While the coalition’s policy on work-from-home arrangements is for the public service and not the private sector, Mr Smith said there was a perception among the voters the edict to return to the office would be across the board.

While Labor had been gaining ground in outer-metro seats, the government’s fortunes in other electorate types had been mixed.

The recent poll showed Labor ahead of the coalition 34 per cent to 29 per cent for primary votes in inner-metropolitan seats.

However, it was behind 28 per cent to 40 per cent in electorates based around regional centres and trailed 24 per cent to 49 per cent in all other rural seats.

Mr Smith said while many seats in major regional areas were Labor strongholds, such as Newcastle or Wollongong, other areas leaned more heavily to the opposition.

City-based seats opted for Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister over Mr Dutton, with the Labor leader ahead 53 per cent to 31 per cent in metropolitan seats, as well as up 45 per cent to 40 per cent in outer-metro electorates.

But 51 per cent of rural voters thought Mr Dutton would make the best prime minister, compared to just 33 per cent for the incumbent.

The YouGov poll showed the major parties are neck and neck going into the election, due to be held by May 17.

Both parties are tied on 50 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, with the coalition clawing back ground after being behind in the poll for the past fortnight.

Labor’s overall primary vote remains stable at 31 per cent, while the opposition has increased its share by one percentage point to 37 per cent.

It’s expected Mr Albanese will go the governor-general to call the election in the days after the federal budget is handed down on Tuesday.

The YouGov poll surveyed 1500 people between March 14 and Wednesday, with a margin of error of 3.4 per cent.