Newspoll: Tanya Plibersek and Barnaby Joyce clash on Sunrise as Labor support plunges to 13-year low

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek and One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce have traded blows in a fiery live television clash after a devastating new poll showed Labor’s primary support had plunged to its lowest level in more than a decade.

Appearing on Sunrise on Monday morning, Ms Plibersek was grilled over the latest Newspoll, which showed Labor’s primary vote had fallen four points since June to 29 per cent.

It is the party’s lowest result since June 2013, just days before Kevin Rudd replaced Julia Gillard as Prime Minister.

One Nation also slipped one point but remains level with Labor on 29 per cent, while the Coalition fell to 18 per cent.

Asked whether Labor was concerned about the dramatic shift in support, Ms Plibersek conceded the result represented a significant change.

“Well, it’s certainly a change, and we’ve got a bit of time between now and the next election to right that, and that’s why we are absolutely focused every day on making a real difference in people’s lives,” she said.

Ms Plibersek then rattled off a series of government measures, repeatedly pointing to their impact in Mr Joyce’s electorate, including tax cuts, housing assistance, the home battery program, bulk-billing and cheaper medicines.

Mr Joyce seized on the repeated references.

“Well, it sounds like Barnaby must be doing an incredibly good job in his electorate. So I thank you for the advertising, Tanya,” he joked.

But the exchange quickly became more heated as Mr Joyce accused Labor of lacking “authenticity” and claimed Ms Plibersek was delivering lines prepared for her before the interview.

“It just means you’re blurting out the lines,” he said.

“Obviously, what’s happened is people don’t believe in the authenticity of Labor beyond socialism.”

Mr Joyce argued Australians struggling with groceries, electricity bills and other cost-of-living pressures were not seeing the improvements Labor was promoting.

“They talk about the fix, the housing crisis. Have you seen it? They talk about the fix, the power prices. Have you seen it?” he said.

“Our plan is to get rid of the climate change department, to start thinking about the people, rather than about the United Nations, rather than about sort of airy fairy ideas.”

The pair then became embroiled in a tense back-and-forth over electricity prices after Ms Plibersek claimed prices from the local provider in Mr Joyce’s electorate had fallen.

Mr Joyce interrupted with “and reality?”, before describing her argument as “crazy”.

Ms Plibersek hit back by arguing ageing coal-fired power stations were contributing to higher electricity costs.

“The reason that coal-fired power is so expensive is because there hasn’t been a single day without unplanned outage,” she said.

“The power stations keep breaking down, Barnaby, because they’re 50 years old. It’s like driving a 50-year-old car. They break down and they’re expensive to fix.”

“The reason power prices are coming down is because of the increase in renewables, Barnaby.”

Mr Joyce accused the government of “making excuses for hurting people” before the Sunrise hosts stepped in to shut down the increasingly chaotic argument.

“Let’s leave it there with the power because it is a mess,” the host said.

The clash comes as Parliament prepares to return to Canberra on Tuesday, with Labor facing negotiations over gambling reforms and its proposed overhaul of the NDIS.